Overstretched probation officers face further budget cuts

PROBATION and welfare officers, already struggling to cope, are to have their budget cut by a further 8% next year, the Oireachtas heard yesterday.

On the first day of a series of special Oireachtas hearings into witness intimidation following the collapse of Liam Keane’s trial for murder, Probation and Welfare Service head officer Sean Lowry said the service was under-resourced.

With 290 professional staff dealing with 5,500 offenders, Mr Lowry said: “We struggle to do the job and we are not able to meet all the demands that are made of us.”

When pressed by Fine Gael Justice spokesman John Deasy, Mr Lowry conceded that even without cuts, the service was already stretched to the limit.

“It certainly makes the task more difficult for us. Even without the cut the resources of the Probation and Welfare Service have been spread very, very thinly,” he said.

Also addressing the Committee, Senior Counsel and Trinity law lecturer Gerard Hogan said that while the criminal justice system was basically sound, the intimidation of witnesses posed a serious threat to justice.

“It would have a very insidious and really devastating affect on the criminal justice system if this problem is not addressed,” he said.

However, Mr Hogan warned against thinking that the problems could simply be resolved with some new legislation. “If legislation could solve problems we’d be well on our way to the perfect society,” he said.

Outlining her concerns for witnesses, Ann Meade of Victim Support said not enough consideration was given to the difficulties faced by witnesses.

Proposals from the organisation include Garda escorts for witnesses travelling to courts and separate waiting rooms for witnesses.

Ms Meade also raised the role of the media and called for more consideration for victims, who were often themselves witnesses.

“There was one instance in which elderly parents of a victim who lived in another part of the country had their house featured on television and in the newspapers,” she said.

Raising the issue of disadvantaged trouble spots in Limerick, Mr Lowry said a new generation of criminals was now evident. “There is a new generation of young, out-of-control children emerging in Limerick,” he said, adding there was an axis of disadvantage in Limerick as large as any in Ireland.

“Arguably, Limerick has the most expansive joined-up area of disadvantage that exists in the country. Very many people in that disadvantaged area feel excluded from the general well being of the country,” he said, pointing out that despite this, most of the area’s residents were law-abiding.