Thurles Information

Irish Probation Service’s Annual Report shows referrals to the Service increases as well as the total number of Community Service hours.

The Irish Probation Service launches its 2024 Annual Report,
Executive Summary – Statistical Highlights.

• Total number of Persons dealt with in Community: 17,150. Up 10% since 2020, and now at the highest level on record.
• Total court referrals to the Probation Service: 9,720. Up 5% on 2023.
• Number of Community Service Hours ordered in lieu of custodial sentence: 222,245. Up 6.8% on the previous year.
• Alternative sentence in years that would otherwise have been served: 856. Up 10% on the previous year.
• Number of people in worked with prisons, preparing for reintegration and rehabilitation upon release: 3,521. Up 11% on the previous year.
• Referrals for children aged 12-17: 609. Up 10% on the previous year, and higher than any other time since 2015* (*Representing 6% of all referrals, while 94% are aged over 18).

The 2024 Annual Report of the Probation Service highlights the Service’s ongoing commitment to building safer communities across Ireland, through its core work of the supervision and management of people in the community who have offended, offender rehabilitation and reintegration, and services to victims.
However, this work is not without its challenges; challenges that significantly impact all levels of the criminal justice system, and the Service’s ability to provide these services to clients and stakeholders.

Amid continued pressures on the prison system, increased numbers of court referrals and the highest volume of referrals of those aged 12-17 seen since 2015, the Probation Service’s engagement with the Judiciary, the Courts System and Community Service projects – already a key aspect of its service delivery – now holds even more relevance.

The Probation Service is proud to continue essential service delivery in these areas; compiling detailed probation assessments and reports for the judiciary, ensuring court ordered sanctions are implemented, supervising community service orders, and playing a vital role in rehabilitation, social reintegration, skill development and community payback.

In 2024, the Probation Service managed 1,723 Community Service Orders, an increase of 6.8% on the previous year.

This resulted in 222,245 hours of community service nationwide (which is the equivalent of 856 years in prison) resulting in over €2.8 million worth of unpaid work for the benefit of communities nationwide.

In 2024, the duration of the most frequently imposed Probation order was 12 months, while the duration of the most frequently imposed community service order was 40-70 hours.

Launching the Annual Report, Director of the Probation Service, Mark Wilson, said: “The Probation Service’s 2024 Annual Report, published today, captures the breadth of Service’s work in building safer communities and addressing offending behaviour. It underscores how community sanctions play an invaluable role within the administration of justice.
The report details our measurable impact: in 2024, we worked with over 17,100 individuals in the community (a 10% increase since 2020), while our probation officers delivered more than 13,000 court reports, meeting growing demand with unwavering professionalism.
Looking forward, the Probation Service will continue to strengthen collaboration with our partners in the Department of Justice, Migration and Home Affairs, with An Garda Síochána and the Irish Prison Service. We’re also grateful for the ongoing support of our 60+ community funded projects across the country, as we work to tackle complex crime, alleviate pressure on prisons, and most importantly, deliver better outcomes for our clients, their families, victims of crime and the wider community.”

The Probation Service’s 2024 Annual Report also highlights the top six offences resulting in referrals to the Service, representing 75% of all referrals. Unchanged from previous years, and in this order, they were: theft, assault, drug offences, public order, road traffic, and burglary.
In summary, despite the challenges of the current landscape, the Probation Service entered 2025 dedicated to meeting its strategic objectives, delivering greater impact across the justice sector, informed by the knowledge that people can and do change, and that the Probation Service is instrumental to that change; helping people whose behaviour has caused harm to reintegrate into society, while contributing positively to their communities.

Following the release of the Annual Report, selected data from the 2024 edition, and previous annual reports, will be published as open data on Probation.ie and data.gov.ie.

The Probation Service is an executive agency of the Department of Justice. It is responsible for the supervision and management of people in the community who have offended. This is achieved by compiling detailed probation assessments and reports for the judiciary and ensuring court ordered sanctions are implemented.
As a national organisation, with more than 35 community-based offices nationwide and a presence in every county, its programmes are delivered locally by providing services to the courts, custodial institutions, and communities across the country.