Probation officers are to leave up to 2,000 offenders unsupervised from Monday next in protest at what they describe as totally inadequate staffing levels, writes Padraig Yeates, Industry and Employment Correspondent.
They have also written to the Chief Justice and to the Presidents of the Circuit and District Courts, warning them of severe disruption to court hearings as a result of planned industrial action.
From Monday probation and welfare officers will reduce their individual case-loads from the current 60 or 80 each to 30. They will refuse to make probation reports available and will not attend court hearings.
The probation officers' union, IMPACT, says that individual probation officers will co-operate in ensuring that offenders most at risk of re-offending continue to be supervised. The union estimates that about 3,000 of the current 5,000 people on probation will be covered by the service.
Mr Peter Nolan of IMPACT said that action had been forced on his members because the Government had refused to implement the recommendations of its own review into the service, which recommended that 75 extra probation officers be appointed. The current staff complement is 150.