Vivian Geiran

The Probation Service worked with almost 16,000 offenders referred from the courts nationwide, according to the 2018 annual report for the service.

Community service orders may be imposed by a judge as an alternative to a prison sentence of 12 months or less for persons aged 16 years and over.

Under the legislation, a judge may sentence an offender to between 40 and 240 hours’ work. Any order must be completed within a year.

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said: “The community service order is a very valuable part of the criminal justice system, allowing an offender - where appropriate - to repay their debt to society by carrying out unpaid work in their community rather than by spending time behind bars.

“In 2018, over 350,000 hours of community service were carried out by offenders, benefiting communities nationwide and ensuring that qualifying offenders helped in a very real way to make amends for their criminal actions.”

There were 2,449 community service orders made in 2018, a more than 10 per cent increase on the figure of 2,215 orders made in 2017 and 18 per cent increase on the 2,067 orders made in 2016.

The 2,499 community service orders for 2018 totals 355,404 hours work in lieu of 1,054 years in prison. This equates to over €3 million worth of work.

The Probation Service also provided funding of €16.732 million last year to a range of community-based organisations who  provide a diverse range of services helping to address offender need and, in doing so, reduce the risk of reoffending and facilitate reintegration.

Over the course of the year, the Probation Service prioritised its continued collaboration with other criminal justice partners in order to further improve outcomes in the management, rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders and to reduce the risks of reoffending.

This included continued delivery of the Joint Agency Response to Crime (JARC), targeting identified prolific and high impact offenders. In 2018, almost 130 such offenders were managed across the nine JARC sites at any one time.

Vivian Geiran, director of the Probation Service, said: “2018 was a productive year for the Probation Service. Interagency co-operation is a crucial component of our work. To be effective in reducing victimisation, we must continue this cooperative approach, while also strengthening the quality of the professional services we provide.”

As part of the progression of social enterprises initiatives, the Probation Service, in conjunction with the Irish Prison Service, also accessed €300,000 funding through the Dormant Accounts Disbursement Scheme 2017-2019. These funds have since been awarded to a number of community and voluntary organisations to enable employment using the social enterprise model.