Push for community service over jail time to save €17m

MORE petty criminals will be asked to sweep the streets, clean up graffiti or help people in need under planned new laws compelling judges to consider community service instead of jail for minor offences.

The Cabinet yesterday signed off on the laws making it mandatory for judges to consider Community Service Orders (CSOs) where sentences of up to six months would usually apply.

The measure, which will have to be voted through the Dáil, could keep thousands of offenders out of the prison system and Justice Minister Dermot Ahern believes it could save the Exchequer €17 million.