Probation Service Annual Report 2022
19th October 2023
The Minister for Justice Helen McEntee published the Probation Service Annual Report 2022 on 19 October 2023.
For IPRT's full response to the publication, see our press release here.
Some key points from the report:
- Drop in community service orders (CSO) with vast areas around the country where orders were not made.
- The CSOs managed resulted in 174,287 hours of community service work in lieu of 566 years in prison resulting in €2m worth of unpaid work for the benefit of communities nationwide.
- A fall in family conferencing (which is a restorative justice mechanism).
- 76% of referrals are for the top 6 offences: drug offences, assault, theft, public order, road traffic and burglary
- Service failed to meet targets on pre-sanction assessment reports or assessment reports for the Parole Board.
- Probation service dealt with an increased number of women in 2022.
- There was an increase in the total referrals from court – 1,273 in 2021 to 1,384 in 2022.
- Increase in the number of pre-sanction reports (790 to 915) and orders without prior reports but referrals for CS remained largely the same (168 to 164) while pre-sanction reports to consider CS fell from 131 in 2019 to 86 in 2022. However, there was an increase in orders for probation supervision.
- Court referrals for young people are down overall from 1,141 in 2021 to 1,099 in 2022. Greater use of probation supervision during deferment of penalty and part-suspended supervision orders but drop in Community Service Orders made from 2021.
The Probation Service Annual Report 2022 is available here.
See more:
- IPRT: Alarming rise in imprisonment rates and use of short sentences in latest reports - IPRT
- Gov.ie: Minister McEntee publishes the Probation Service Annual Report 2022
- Law Society Gazette: Probation body notes community-service drop
- Law Society Gazette: IPRT highlights rise in number of women prisoners
- Irish Examiner: Letters to the Editor: It would be better to work towards keeping people out of prison - IPRT
Related items:
- Prime Time investigation into a shift-swapping system operating among Irish prison officers.
- Rehabilitated offenders should be able to move on with their lives - that includes jobs
- Lack of clarity over budget funding for addiction and mental health supports in prisons
- IPRT presented to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration on Pre-legislative scrutiny of the General Scheme: Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025
- Children's Ombudsman calls to extend youth justice sanctions to adults under 24
