From time to time a Circuit Criminal Court judge refers an offender to the Bridge Project instead of, or in addition to, a custodial sentence. Those so referred are usually male drug-abusers in their 20s with a history of robberies. But only rarely is the same court told what the outcome of this referral has been.
Bridge was established in 1991 to provide a community-based alternative to prison for recidivist, high-risk offenders. Sponsored by the Probation and Welfare Service, it is also supported by industry and the public service.
Those referred to Bridge are selected by the Probation and Welfare Service, which assesses the offender's capacity to do the course, his suitability and motivation. More than 80 per cent of those referred have an established pattern of drug abuse.
The Bridge regime is based on 30 years of research on what works to reduce recidivism, according to Mr Gerry McNally, one of the senior probation officers with the project. The research shows a complex matrix of elements needed to combine to have an effect on the offenders' behaviour.
The most important are the factors which led the individual into criminal behaviour: substance abuse, unemployment, problem-solving skills etc. Solving these problems plays a major role in reducing re-offending. The research has also identified the most effective psychological techniques in dealing with offenders.
The Bridge team of probation officers and an educationalist from the VEC tailors each 18-week course to the needs of the offenders coming on to it.
There are about 15 people on each course and three courses a year. The completion rate is about 10 per course, or 66 per cent. Most of the courses have been for men, but last year a women's programme was completed, and another is planned for next year.
Ms Catherine Greene, manager of Bridge, stresses that the client group is high-risk. Some are referred straight from prison, others are facing heavy sentences for repeated crimes.
"A lot of work is motivation work," she said. "We tackle the offending behaviour and the thinking processes around it. Here we change behaviour. Prison reinforces behaviour."
The courses have common themes. They include examining the problem of addiction and its causes and how to deal with it; looking at the reasons for the criminal behaviour, including its impact on the victims; anger management; developing creativity and skills; and personal development with confidence-building and planning for a drug- and crime-free future.
As Dr Paul O'Mahoney's study of prisoners in Mountjoy revealed, a very high proportion of offenders have literacy problems. This is tackled by Ms Blathnaid Ni Cinneide, an education officer seconded from the VEC. "A lot of the work is motivational, dealing with the blocks they have," she said.
Part of the work of the project is introducing its clients to the world of work. It has the support of a group of employers (though this, too, involved a lot of motivational work) and they offer employers who take on the ex-offenders guidance and support.
While some of those who embark on the course relapse, and the challenge of fundamentally altering responses and behaviour is a daunting one, most of those who complete the course find employment, re-establish healthy relationships with their families, and avoid re-offending. Some of them go on to participate in educational programmes in schools warning young people of the dangers of drug abuse and crime.
"If we had enough staff to do the motivational work with people in the prisons there would be far more done," said Mr Sean Lowry, secretary of the board of management.
"The judges would prefer to refer people here, but they can't if these programmes are not here. There has to be a policy to support them. If not, the judges have no choice but to send people to prison, and then more prisons have to be built. There needs to be a once-off substantial investment in places like this."
The Bridge project is mainly the responsibility of the Probation and Welfare Service, but is also supported by the Irish Youth Foundation, the City of Dublin VEC, FAS and the Garda Siochana. A High Court judge, Mr Justice Moriarty, Mr P. O'Connell of the ESRI and Ms Patricia O'Donovan are also trustees.
While the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform has pledged increased support to the Probation and Welfare Service, there is, as yet, no indication that this will be proportionately as great as the ambitious prison-building programme it is committed to.