Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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1170.To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of times restorative justice was used in both adult and juvenile cases over each year since 2018, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter.[35289/24]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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As part of the Probation Service’s overall strategy to further develop capacity to deliver a high quality service and meet the requirements contained in section 26 of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act 2017, the Service established a National Restorative Justice and Victim Services Unit (RJVSU) in October 2018. The Unit meets two core objectives:

1. Provide leadership and support for the consistent and integrated provision of a range of restorative justice models within the context of Probation assessment and supervision.
2. Act as the central point of contact for the Service to ensure an effective response to requests and queries from victims. This may include a request for engagement in a restorative justice process.

The 2020 Programme for Government committed to working with all criminal justice agencies to build capacity to deliver restorative justice, safely and effectively. Working towards fulfilling this pledge, and following extensive consultation and development, the Minister of State with responsibility for Law Reform and Youth Justice, James Browne TD, published the policy paper 'Promoting and supporting the provision of Restorative Justice at all stages of the criminal justice system' in August 2023.

This policy paper signposts the next steps for continuing to ensure the safe and effective delivery of Restorative Justice initiatives, and sets out a roadmap for present and future attainment of the highest standards in this area. The Probation Service has been charged with delivering the goals of this policy paper, and has received an increase in dedicated funding to achieve this.

The Probation Service delivers restorative justice directly, and through several community-based organisations that receive referrals at specific points in the criminal justice process and is currently provides funding to five community-based organisations to provide dedicated restorative justice programmes. These 5 programmes, and the areas they provide services to, are listed below:

• Restorative Justice Services - Dublin, Wicklow, Meath and Kildare
• Restorative Justice in the Community - Tipperary, Laois, Offaly and has recently expanded to Westmeath
• Le Chéile - Limerick, Cork & Clare (for young people aged 16-24 years)
• Cornmarket Project - Wexford
• Tuam Community Training Centre - Galway, Sligo, and Roscommon.

In 2020, Restorative Justice Strategies for Change (RJS4C) Ireland began mapping the organisations involved in restorative justice, the levels of training, and the use of restorative justice and restorative practices in the Irish criminal justice system. RJS4C have published data tracking restorative justice in Ireland from 2019-2023: restorativejustice.ie/service-map/

The information requested by the Deputy is contained in the table below.

To note, Probation figures for 2023 do not distinguish between adults and juveniles.

Due to limitations with existing data collection systems, the Probation Service records the number of restorative justice referrals but it does not capture the number of restorative justice interventions used. As such, the figures above under-represent the number of times restorative justice was used in the work of the Probation Service.

All Probation interventions seek to address the harm caused by offending behaviour and consequently victim consideration is incorporated into pre-sanction assessment and supervision. The Service has recognised the need to advance data and ICT capability as a strategic priority for the organisation and is working with the Department to develop plans to meet these objectives over the course of the next 12 months.