From the 1980s to the present
1980: First annual report of the Probation and Welfare Service is published.
1981: A White Paper, "Community Service Orders – a method of dealing with offenders brought before the courts", is published. It proposes that a community service order would be an alternative sanction available to courts whereby an offender convicted of a criminal offence could be ordered to perform, under supervision, a specified number of hours of unpaid work for the community within a stated time.
1983: The Criminal Justice (Community Service) Act, 1983 is enacted. Probation and welfare officers are made responsible for arranging and managing the performance of between 40 and 240 hours of community service work by offenders aged over 16 years made subject to such order. The first community service order is made in 1985.
The 1980s see further development also. A National Economic and Social Council report in 1984 "The Criminal Justice System: Policy and Performance" and the Whitaker Committee "Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Penal System" in 1985 both point to the central role probation should play in the criminal justice system. A key recommendation of the latter report is that imprisonment should be employed only as a last resort and that a range of non-custodial penalties should be used for less serious offences.
1991: Extra resources are sanctioned to commence Intensive Probation Supervision for serious offenders who would otherwise have to serve or continue serving a substantial custodial sentence.
1994: A departmental policy document "The Management of Offenders – A Five Year Plan" proposes an expanded role for the Service in this area. This is followed by a discussion paper "Tackling Crime" in 1997 which suggests that the Service should be a prime target for additional resources.
1997: The Report of Expert Group "Towards an Independent Prisons Agency" recommends that the Service retain its current status until consideration is given to its establishment as a separate agency. In response, the Minister for Justice sets up an Expert Group on the Probation and Welfare Service.
1998: The "Expert Group on the Probation and Welfare Service First Report " recommends immediate priorities of staff increases, a comprehensive public information and awareness programme, a dedicated IT system with training and the resolution of community service insurance.
A Report of the National Crime Forum, presenting citizens’ views on crime, calls for a much more imaginative use of community-based sanctions and restorative principles.
1999: The "Final Report of the Expert Group on the Probation and Welfare Service" is published. It makes thirty recommendations relating to the policy and legislative framework, structures and staffing and on the role of the Service.
2001: The Sex Offenders Act, 2001 and the Children Act, 2001 gives the Probation and Welfare Service a pivotal role in supervising these categories of offenders.
2002: A National Crime Council consultation paper "Tackling the Underlying Causes of Crime: A Partnership Approach" reiterates the Expert Group report and recommends the development of a statutory Probation and Welfare Service. It recommends also that it expands its remit to young people.
2003: A "Crime Prevention Strategy for Ireland: Tackling the Concerns of Local Communities" report of the National Crime Council recommends the expansion of non-custodial sanctions, for juvenile and adult offenders alike; and that there should be a rehabilitative focus to all such sanctions.
2006: The Minister of Justice, Equality and Law Reform launches a re-branded ‘Probation Service’ with a new logo, new web-site, new management structure under a Director and a specific division for young offenders.
