The Probation Service is an agency of the Department of Justice and Equality committed to working to achieve the high level objectives and policy goals of the Department in working for safer communities. The Service works closely with the Courts Service, the Irish Prison Service (IPS), An Garda Síochána, the Irish Youth Justice Service (IYJS), the Parole Board and many organisations in the community. Our role is to contribute to public safety by the management of community sanctions and measures, the effective assessment and management of offenders and by facilitating the re-integration of ex-offenders.

We focused on a number of specific key priority areas during the year, as part of our overall programme to further develop quality services, focused on outcomes and results, measured against our strategic goals. These included new approaches to how we engage and work with women and young people, extending our suite of offender programmes and restorative practice initiatives, and research on and responses to offenders with alcohol and drugs issues. This has also involved improving data collection and research to inform practice, and in many cases, publishing specific strategies and work plans.