Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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68. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality given reports that the probation services worked with 17,000 people last year with about 500 staff, how his Department will expand community service orders without overwhelming probation and setting the policy up to fail; the additional funding, training and supports that are being ring-fenced; and the timeline for implementation. [54116/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I am committed to progressing and implementing policies aimed at increasing the use of community sanctions, reducing offending, diverting people away from the criminal justice system, and providing effective rehabilitation.

I am acutely conscious of the impacts of increased resources in one area of the criminal justice system on other areas, and I am working to ensure that all agencies within the criminal justice sector are aware of and equipped to deal with anticipated demands.

As announced in Budget 2026 on 7 October, I have secured an 11% increase in funding for the Probation Service. This will allow for the recruitment of 100 additional staff to increase use of supervised community sanctions in the criminal courts, expand restorative justice services, expand national supervised Temporary Release scheme, and provide initial staffing for a Bail Supervision Scheme.

On 6 May 2025, I secured Government approval for the drafting of the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025. This Bill amends the Criminal Justice (Community Service) Act 1983 and the Criminal Justice (Community Service) (Amendment) Act 2011 to encourage greater use of community service orders. At present, a judge is obliged to consider imposing a community service order if considering a custodial sentence of up to 12 months’ imprisonment. I am proposing this threshold be increased from 12 to 24 months, and to double from 240 to 480 the maximum community service hours that may be ordered.

The Deputy may be aware that the Probation Service has commissioned two reviews of Community Service, an Evidence Review in 2021 followed by an Operational Review in 2023. The findings of both directly support recommendations in the Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform 2022-2024.

Findings include that community service operates as intended and provides an opportunity for a robust community sanction, and that community service operations should be underpinned by principles like a desistance approach, restorative justice and social justice.

In April this year, I launched the Probation Service, Community Service: New Directions Implementation Plan 2025-27, which set out a three year plan to further develop and increase community service operations nationwide.