Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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1714. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if there is a written grant agreement or service level agreement in place between his Department and the probation services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47531/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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It is important to note that the Probation Service is part of my Department and is not a statutory agency. It is funded through the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration Vote.

I am advised that the Probation Service ensures oversight of its administration follows the requirements set out for all public bodies in the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies (2016).

As part of its governance practices, my Department and the Probation Service put in place an Oversight Agreement for 2023–2025 and a Performance Delivery Agreement for 2025. Both agreements are published on the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration website.

This Performance Delivery Agreement sets out the Probation Service’s key targets for the year in the context of the resource inputs provided, and how their delivery will be measured in terms of performance targets and indicators, as well as highlighting any potential risk factors.

Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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1715. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of referrals received by the probation services and to list the top 20 categories, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47532/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I am advised that in 2024, the latest time period for which full figures are available, there were 9,720 court referrals to the Probation Service.

Most court referrals to the Probation Service in that period were for pre-sanction reports, which assess suitability for a community sanction and issues relevant to reducing reoffending.

Pre-sanction reports outline the underlying factors in the offending behaviour, the offender’s attitude to the crime and motivation to change, and action to be taken to help prevent further offending.

The breakdown of new referrals from court to the Probation Service in 2024 is outlined in the table below:

Referral for community service reports assess offenders’ suitability to do unpaid work in the community, while pre-sanction reports to consider community service are for judges to assess an offenders’ suitability for a non-custodial sentence, to identify the risk of offending, and to suggest appropriate interventions to prevent reoffending.

I can advise the Deputy that the most common offence types resulting in referrals to the Probation Service in 2024 are contained in the attached table.

Counting only the most serious category of offence for each referral to the Probation Service, the relative frequency of each of the 16 categories of offences referred were as follows: