Nine years after legislation required the Probation and Welfare Service to supply reports to the family law courts, the service remains unable to do so because of "substantial under-resourcing", the Public Accounts Committee has heard.
The PAC's chairman, Mr John Perry, expressing his shock yesterday, demanded that the Department of Finance deliver a report on the state of the service's funding to the committee by October.
Mr Tim Dalton, secretary general of the Department of Justice, had told the PAC that the Oireachtas had passed the Family Law Act in 1995, requiring the service to furnish judges in the family law courts with reports.
"In fact the Probation Service has not been able to discharge this family law function at all due to lack of resources," he said.
The PAC was hearing responses to a report from the Comptroller and Auditor General on value for money in the Probation and Welfare Service.
The report says demand on the service has increased since 1995, particularly as a result of judges using the option of deferring custodial sentences pending a period of supervision. There has, however, been a decline in the use of community service orders by judges, partly because the service is overstretched.
It says the service is "struggling to fulfil its normal mandate and meet new demands", and refers to its "inability to discharge its statutory functions in the family law area".
Mr John McGuinness TD (FF) said he was "quite alarmed" by the message from Mr Dalton.
It seemed to him that the service had not been proactive in leading change in the service and that "management generally" was part of the problem.
He knew of prisoners who felt unprepared for release because they were not getting an adequate probation and welfare service.
Officials from the Department of Finance agreed to meet the service, assess its needs and deliver a report in October.
