Ahern ‘fully committed’ to Community Service Scheme report

JUSTICE MINISTER Dermot Ahern said he was “fully committed” to implementing the findings of a Government report which called for a major expansion of community sanctions instead of imprisonment.

The report – drawn up by experts from the Department of Justice, the Probation Service and the judiciary – said several thousand offenders are being imprisoned each year when they could be serving their sentences in the community. The Value for Money and Policy Review (VFM) of the Community Service Scheme said that Community Service Orders (CSOs) were a “very cost effective option” and that prisons were about seven times more expensive.

“The minister is fully committed to act on the recommendations of the VFM Report and is aware that the Probation Service has been pro-active in developing structures and processes which are consistent with the proposals it contains,” said a spokesman for Mr Ahern. “The restructured model of service delivery for community service developed by the Probation Service will ensure efficiency, value for money and benefits for communities through the unpaid work of offenders done in lieu of custodial sentences.” The VFR report, as revealed in yesterday’s Irish Examiner, found: