A chara, - British Home Office research on worldwide prison populations from 1997 to 1999 shows that the Republic of Ireland has the third fastest rising prison population in the world. The prison option that present Government policy promotes flies in the face of a series of Government, Department of Justice and expert reports on the penal system.
These have highlighted the need to develop community sanctions in this jurisdiction and expressed concern about the level of resourcing to the Probation and Welfare service. Evidence-based research on re-offending concludes that many offenders who are imprisoned for short periods of time could instead be dealt with in the community.
Moreover, research suggests that appropriately structured and targeted methods of intervention in the community can have a more positive impact upon recidivism than the use of custody.
Government policy substantially ignores the evidence and has instead expensively and expansively indulged in a binge prison-building programme. By contrast, the Probation and Welfare Service, though acknowledging that the crisis of probation staff shortage has eased, still feels a persistent political wind that is antipathetic to its business and its poorly developed state. - Is mise,
Patrick O'Dea, Press Officer, Probation and Welfare Branch, IMPACT, Finglas, Dublin 11.