Only 11 of 657 jailed sex offenders completed behind-bars treatment programme

JUST 11 sex offenders have completed a behind-bars treatment programme over the past year, new statistics show.

The Building Better Lives scheme is the State’s main course for reducing the risk of sex offenders committing another crime after their release.

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But just one in nine participate in the project.

As of the end of March, some 657 sex offenders were locked up across the prison system.

In the years between 2019 and 2023, approximately 2,400 convicted sex offenders have spent time in Irish jails – about 500 a year.

However, figures released by Justice Minister Helen McEntee show 11 inmates completed the course last year.

Just seven participated in 2022. A further 38 went through the system over the previous three years.

McEntee said: “The Building Better Lives programme has been delivered as the treatment programme for sexual offending since 2009 in Irish Prisons.

“It is based on Canada’s Rockwood model of treatment. The primary reason for low participation rates is the strict inclusion and exclusion criteria for participation.”

She said these include “the requirement for stability of mental health, sufficient sentence length, being assessed as moderate to high risk of re-offending, and capacity to engage in group programmes”.

Pervs convicted of sexual violence have typically been accommodated in four locations including the Midlands Prison, Arbour Hill Prison, the Training Unit in Mountjoy Prison and Castlerea Prison.

The majority of treatments occur in Arbour Hill.

McEntee also confirmed that those who deny their offence are excluded, as are those who are appealing.

She added: “Those appealing their offence often deny all or part of their offending also.

“Therefore ‘denial’ as an exclusion criteria constitutes a significant percentage of the population.”

Those who undergo BBL are said to be more than 3.5 times less likely to reoffend compared to those who don’t.

TD Denis Naughton has blasted the lack of BBL participation.

He said: “It exposes the risk that communities face from those determined to reoffend once released from prison.”