The Department of Justice (DoJ) launched the Building Pathways Together: Criminal Justice Reintegration Through Employment Strategy 2025-2027 with Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology’s Dr Joe Garrihy appearing on the panel (with Dr Ciara Bracken-Roche also due to appear but who was regrettably a late withdrawal).
The Employment Strategy 2025-2027 has been developed by the Department of Justice, in conjunction with the Irish Prison Service and the Probation Service, and in consultation with key stakeholders including Government Departments, agencies, and those with lived experience of the criminal justice system and have faced barriers to reintegration.
The strategy seeks to provide effective interventions to ensure that those who have ceased offending, and those who are looking for stability to move away from a life which involves offending, have the appropriate supports and opportunities open to them to make the success of their endeavours more likely.
Dr Garrihy and Dr Bracken-Roche’s participation in the launch stems from two research and policy publications on access to employment for people with criminal convictions. Empirical research in collaboration with the Irish Penal Reform Trust (funded by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC)) and the Open Doors Initiative resulted in the report, “”The Secondary Punishment": Employers and people with convictions reveal barriers to employment” launched in February 2023. A key finding was employers’ desire for information, guidance and support leading to a recommendation for an inclusive hiring toolkit for employer.
Dr Garrihy and Dr Bracken-Roche collaborated with the Open Doors Initiative (funded by IHREC) to develop and launch this bespoke toolkit in May 2023 in Ibec Headquarters: Employers’ Toolkit for Inclusive Hiring of People with Convictions.
The authors were pleased to see all of their recommendations within the scope of the Strategy appear in the new Strategy document and look forward to supporting their implementation. The creation of a Criminal Justice Employer’s Network is a key part of the strategy of which Dr Garrihy and Dr Bracken-Roche will be members.
For more information see the Building Pathways Together:
Building Pathways Together: Criminal Justice Reintegration Through Employment Strategy 2025-2027
Building Pathways Together Infographic