Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.
I am delighted to join you today for the closing discussions at the 3rd Annual Irish Criminal Justice Agencies Conference.
I would like to thank Maura Butler and the ACJRD for again partnering with the Justice Sector in order to put together today’s event. Thank you also to Vivian Guerin and all in the Probation Service, which took on the role of lead agency in planning this year’s conference. I also want to warmly thank Judge David Riordan who chaired today’s research roundtable, and all of the plenary and workshop speakers who have contributed to the conference proceedings.
I am greatly supportive of this annual conference series as providing a forum for reflection and engagement on key issues facing the criminal justice system and the public it serves. The two previous conferences addressed penal reform and engagement with young people respectively and gave us an opportunity to drill down into those issues.
Today’s conference theme is a cross cutting one, with significance for every facet of our criminal justice system. I think it is fair to say that in comparison with some other areas of public policy in Ireland, the evidence base for our work in the field of criminal justice has not been as strong as we would like. There are particular challenges faced for those wishing to advance criminological insight in an Irish context. Not least are difficulties with data availability and compatibility within and between our systems. The outrage that crime naturally elicits also colours debate and clouds opinions. But if anything this makes it even more imperative that we carefully consider the evidence when considering policy interventions.
None of these challenges have deterred those working in the field, however. There is now a growing body of researchers working in the criminological area, providing valuable insight, and I am pleased so many could participate today.
The opening presentation from Jimmy Martin this morning addressed the particular challenges faced in forecasting for the number of persons imprisoned, and provides a good example of the difficulties faced in comparison with some other areas of long term public service planning.
Nor has there always been the same tradition of feedback and interaction between research and practice as is some other areas of social policy. This afternoon, Doctor Niamh Hourigan addressed important aspects of the role played by evidence in criminal justice practice, and the difficulties in moving from conceptual models of good practice to complex realities of implementation. Many of you here today will, whether as practitioners or researchers, be familiar with the often uneven and uncertain way in which academic research, evidence gathering and evaluation feeds through into policy and practice.
Today’s conference and the work which will flows from it is therefore very welcome. Notwithstanding the difficulties I have noted, there are good examples of how we are improving our knowledge and research base, how it is impacting on policy making, and ultimately finding expression in better societal outcomes.
Developments in recent years in the management of sex offenders and the operation of the SORAM model is one such example. So too is the improved understanding we are gaining from the work the CSO are carrying out on recidivism analysis, and the related area of the community return programme. I would also like to acknowledge and praise the work carried out by the editors and contributors to the Irish Probation Journal over many years, in providing a forum for interaction between research and practice in an Irish context.
More generally, I would also point to the work of the Penal Policy Review Group which conducted a wide ranging strategic review of penal policy taking into account relevant work already completed here and elsewhere. Its recommendations are strongly informed by evidence and are being overseen by a Penal Policy Implementation Oversight Group independently chaired by Doctor Mary Rogan, the reports of which will be published on an ongoing basis.
As a former Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, I am also very encouraged by the work being carried out in evaluating the impact of interventions for children and young people, which I note was addressed by Mary Rafferty and Aisling Sheehan from the Centre for Effective Studies during one of today’s workshop sessions. This programme of evaluation, and its translation to implementation, has a bearing on issues faced in the criminal justice sector. As well as suggesting models which might be applied, the implications of the results emerging for interventions within the justice sector are also of interest.
As Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality I want to assure you of my commitment to supporting work to improve our evidence base and to bring the benefit of research and analysis into policy and practice.
Is worth pausing to note how central the question of evidence and engagement is to the Vision for the Civil Service, which is set out in the Civil Service Renewal Plan.
That Vision sets out the Civil Service’s Mission as being to
· To offer objective and evidence-informed advise to Government, respond to developments, and deliver Government objective while striving to achieve optimal outcomes in the long term national interest, and
· To Serve citizens and stakeholders efficiently, equally and with respect, in a system that is open, transparent and accountable
In the Department of Justice and Equality, and across the civil service, we are investing to give effect to this commitment. Under the leadership of the Department’s Chief Information Officer, Alec Dolan, the Department has established an IGEES Unit (part of the Irish Government Economic Evaluation Service) to work alongside other research and analysis programmes in the Department, to provide high standards of analysis and input into decision making.
At one of the workshop’s earlier today, Hugh Hennessey from the new IGEES Unit gave a flavour of some of the projects we are initiating. These include developing an end to end model of the criminal justice system, preparing a cost of crime model, and developing an evaluation framework and capacity in the Department.
This work, and our understanding of how the criminal justice system operates, is hugely dependant on data. As I have said, limitations in data and its compatibility have long been problematic for policy makers and researchers. I am pleased to say, therefore, that the criminal justice agencies are working together on proposals to improve data interoperability under the aegis of the Criminal Justice Strategic Committee. This programme aims to improve the availability of data to support operational activity and policy making, but also to inform broader research and debate on criminal justice issues.
A key part of the Department’s research programme is to facilitate more open policy dialogue with academia, external specialists and other stakeholders. As many of you know, the Department’s Chief Information Officer recently chaired a Roundtable on Research which drew together representatives of most Irish universities and research institutes, as well as Departmental researchers, heads of policy Divisions and a number of agencies.
The objective of this introductory meeting was to explore how the research community and the Department might best work together to increase our appetite and capacity to use available funding or resources, while ensuring that outputs are better utilised in policy development.
The roundtable discussions chaired by Judge Riordan today are also extremely helpful in continuing and broadening this engagement. I look forward to the further development of a more structured dialogue and engagement with the research community, as part of our ongoing work to improve the quality of policy making and better meet society’s needs.
One interesting sectoral initiative related to the development of research thinking by the Department of Justice and Equality, which I would like to mention, and which I expect was raised in workshop discussions today, has been the recent establishment of the first all of Ireland Postgraduate Research Network on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence. This network is facilitated by Cosc – the National Office for the prevention of such violence. This project is being taken forward as an action embedded in the Second National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence 2016 - 2021.
The main aim of the Network is to improve knowledge and understanding of the issues faced, and to encourage the development of rigorous and critical domestic sexual and gender-based violence scholarship. It will provide a platform for multi-disciplinary engagement and dissemination of researchers’ work, and promote dialogue and collaboration between researchers, policy makers and NGOs in different sectors and disciplines.
Membership of the Network is initially limited to doctoral candidates. I understand that other post-graduates will be invited to participate in activities and events, as appropriate. I look forward to hearing more about the Network’s activities and seeing its impact feeding through into policy and service delivery.
I am optimistic about the plans we are making and encouraged by the goodwill and enthusiasm displayed today.
As I have said before, the ACJRD has a long tradition of bringing together a wide range of officials, practitioners, academics, NGO's and many others with an interest in review and reform of the criminal justice system. It provides an excellent and informal forum for the exchange of ideas and experience and I would like to again pay tribute to the contribution it has made over many years.
I would like to thank you all for your participation, and look forward to reviewing the conference outcome and feedback.