The probation service says it is improving public safety and reducing crime by keeping offenders out of prison and rehabilitating them in the community, writes Carl O'Brien, Social Affairs Correspondent
On the wall of Aidan Trant's office at the Finglas branch of the probation service is a handwritten note in black marker.
For many of the offenders who come to his office, having escaped a custodial sentence, the words in block capitals stand out from the array of posters and leaflets that clutter the walls.
"IF YOU DO WHAT YOU'VE ALWAYS DONE, THEN YOU'LL GET WHAT YOU'VE ALWAYS GOT."
Sitting at Trant's desk is Seán, a 38-year-old Traveller with two children, who was charged with assault and a public order offence after a fight a few months ago.
He has been ordered to do community service and over several meetings with Trant - one of almost 300 probation officers around the State - it emerges that a combination of drink and lack of access to one of his sons appears to be at the root of his behaviour.
"It's only now I realise I've been drinking way too much," says Seán, who admits life has been a drink-fuelled blur for several months.
"I'm off it for the past week. It's not going to help me see my other son. I'm drinking over one child, when I've another to rear. It doesn't make sense."
Trant arranges counselling and anger management for him.
Seán, a father of two, who has no previous convictions on file, also says he'll try to resume his job as a security guard. "Anything but prison . . . Nobody cares about you when you're in there. There's no help available. This way, you can try to get your life back together."
Not all cases are as straightforward. Some engage with the service, others don't and end up back in court. But the approach to all offenders who come before the probation service is the same: the aim is to give all a chance to prove themselves after committing an offence.
Probation emerged more than 100 years ago as a humane and effective approach to helping offenders change. At any one time, the service is supervising about 6,000 offenders in the community, including offenders subject to orders from courts, life-sentence prisoners on temporary release and sex offenders.
Probation officers assess offenders before sentencing, submitting a report to the judge on issues such as the risk posed by an individual.
Such reports also advise judges on the suitability of an offender for prison or non-custodial sanctions.
The service runs community-based sanction programmes for offenders and works with jailed offenders in helping them to identify and overcome their criminal behaviour.
The thinking behind the service is that, where appropriate, community sanctions are more effective than jail in reducing offences.
At the head office of the Probation and Welfare Service in Smithfield, director Michael Donnellan insists that changing the perception of community sanctions as a "soft touch" is a key challenge facing the service.
"Being on probation can be every bit as tough as serving a sentence," says Donnellan, former director of Trinity House School for young offenders. "If a person doesn't accept responsibility for the hurt that they've caused, then you're on a hiding to nothing. But once that happens, you can try and change their behaviour."
By engaging with neighbourhoods through a restorative approach, he says, public safety can be improved and offending reduced.
"We're still a small country with local communities . . . it's about communities holding their own rather than exporting their problems.
"Just last week I was at a function in Ballyfermot, where four lads involved in probation projects got Gaisce awards. That was a magnificent achievement for them."
Almost half the service's €50 million budget goes towards such community-based projects. Many in the social work field have criticised the level of funding available to the probation service compared to the prison service, but Donnellan insists the service has to make its own case for extra resources.
While probation is not an option for prisoners who pose a significant risk to public safety, Donnellan says there are many more in prison who could be better served under the auspices of the probation service.