Twenty-five additional temporary staff will be appointed to the Probation and Welfare Service, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has announced.
Mr O'Donoghue said they were in addition to 25 new temporary staff and a further 47 permanent staff. The number of staff in the service will increase from 160 to 257.
Mr O'Donoghue was attending the publication yesterday of a book detailing probation services in 19 European states.
Probation and Probation Services - A European Perspective shows that 12 per cent of Ireland's budget on probation and prisons is spent on probation services. This compares with about 20 per cent for Sweden and Scotland and is similar to the proportion spent on the services in Norway and Denmark.
Mr Martin Tansey, principal probation and welfare officer with the service, said its annual budget increased from about £12 million in 1997 to £25 million this year.