McEntee rules out mandatory treatment programme for imprisoned sex offenders
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee TD says treatment programmes of any kind are generally only effective where the person concerned accepts that their behaviour has caused serious harm and wants to take ownership to change their own behaviour. Picture: Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie
Justice Minister Helen McEntee has ruled out any plans to make the main prison treatment programme for convicted sex offenders mandatory.
Ms McEntee says the Irish Prison Service (IPS) has no proposals to make offence-focused treatment for sex offenders mandatory for a number of reasons.
The IPS stance on the issues comes against the background of a continued low take-up by sex offenders of prison-based treatment with just one in eight prisoners availing of its main treatment programme.
The low take-up recently prompted independent TD, Denis Naughten, to state that there is an urgent need to reform the management and monitoring of sex offenders following their release back into communities.
Now, in response to a written Dail question from Fianna Fáil's Cathal Crowe on the issue, Ms McEntee said she understands “the very natural public safety concerns regarding the rehabilitation of sex offenders”.
In the three years up to the end of 2019 just 55 sexual offenders had taken part in the IPS Building Better Lives programme (BBL).
In her written reply to Mr Crowe, the Minister stated the BBL “is an intensive programme aimed at a certain cohort of sex offenders and like all treatment programmes available for people convicted of sexual violence, it is voluntary in nature”.
She said there are a number of reasons why individual sex offenders do not participate in the BBL programme "and it is important to note that men who are assessed for treatment may be deemed not suitable for the programme".
Ms McEntee said the criteria for participation includes a prison sentence of 18 months to provide time to complete the programme, admission of sexually harmful behaviour, robustness of mental health, intellectual, social and developmental capacity, some literacy capacity and those not appealing their conviction.
"It is important to understand that, while the programme tends to be a particular focus for attention, it is only one of a number of assessment and intervention or treatment pillars provided by the IPS and Probation Service for people convicted of sexual violence," she added.
The Minister said the IPS provides alternative pathways of intervention for people who are not suitable for, or decline to attend, the BBL programme but who are willing to engage in other interventions, in order to facilitate cognitive, emotional and behavioural change and social reintegration and seek to reduce the risk of recidivism and help ex-offenders lead law-abiding lives.
Ms McEntee also said prison in-reach psychiatry services are available for stabilisation and maintenance of mental health where a mental health diagnosis is made.
A Sex Offender Risk Assessment and Management (SORAM) programme has also been established to support the cooperation and coordination between key statutory organisations involved in managing the risk posed to the community by convicted sex offenders, as well as the Safer Lives Community Group Work Treatment programme.
