Assignment of Responsibilities under the
Public Service Management Act 1997

It is the role of the Probation Service to help achieve a safer and fairer Ireland by:

• ensuring court orders are implemented
• reducing the risk of harm to the public
• reducing the likelihood of reoffending and
• making good the harm done by crime (reparation and restorative justice).

Probation Officers become involved in the criminal justice process between the trial and the sentencing phases.They provide the Judge with a pre-sanction assessment to help him or her decide on an appropriate sentence. Where the Judge decides that a non-custodial sentence involving supervision or community service is appropriate the Probation Service will ensure that the Court Order is implemented.