Developments in the 1960s and 1970s
1962: A further Interdepartmental Committee report provides for the re-establishment of the professional service in Dublin, buttressed by a widening of the scope and role of the voluntary probation workers. No professional appointments are made outside Dublin on the grounds that numbers on supervision do not warrant it.There is an extension of the probation role into custodial centres, with the appointment of two full-time prison welfare officers, one in Mountjoy Prison, the other in St. Patrick’s Institution. The Service becomes known as the ‘Probation and After-Care Service’. The number of probation officers employed is increased to eight. Also, the report provides for the appointment of officers for the first time on a permanent established basis.
1964: A serving probation officer is appointed to a new post of Probation Administration Officer.
1968: The Minister for Justice sets up another review of the Service.
1969: The Probation and After Care Service has a staff of nine – 1 Probation Administration Officer and 6 Probation Officers (5 attached to the Metropolitan Children’s Court and 1 to the Dublin Metropolitan District Court) and 2 welfare officers in prisons.
1970: Following the review the organisation is re-named the "Welfare Service of the Department of Justice". A Principal Probation Officer, three senior welfare officers and twenty-seven welfare officers are appointed. Staff are also assigned for the first time to provincial centres.
1977: The Misuse of Drugs Act, 1977 includes provision for court ordered assessment, reports and supervision of drug misusing offenders by probation officers.
1979: A joint management survey of the Service by the Departments of Justice and the Public Service reorganises management on a regional basis. The Service is renamed the "Probation and Welfare Service".
See McNally, G. (2007), "Probation in Ireland: A Brief History of the Early Years", 'Irish Probation Journal', vol.4, pp.5-24 for further information, available on this website at 'Home>Publications>Irish Probation Journal'.
