PROPOSED changes to the probation services across Ireland mean that the Carlow office will be closed, possibly as soon as next year.

Staff at the local service, located at Quinn House, Mill Lane, will be redeployed to the Kilkenny office but will be expected to meet clients at a ‘contact office facility’ in the Carlow area. The office, which deals with a large number of high-risk offenders from the court system, will be restructured to accommodate changing needs, according to the Department of Justice.

It is understood that Carlow staff will be accommodated in the Kilkenny office in government buildings on the Hebron Road, with a contact office being sought locally for client meetings.

However, the plans are expected to meet with resistance, particularly with concerns for the safety of staff in the contact office. Under health and safety requirements, probation officers are not allowed to meet clients on their own, something which may prove problematic in the new system.

Currently, there are five full-time staff in the Carlow office: three probation officers, one clerical officer and one senior manager.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice told The Nationalist that the planned changes will take place in “2015-16”.

“In order to better meet its changing needs, the probation service has undertaken a review of its offices throughout the country. This review identified that in the medium term there needs to be some reconfiguration to a number of offices, including the Carlow and Kilkenny offices. The probation team with responsibility for Carlow and Kilkenny is currently split between two office locations. The whole team is being located together in the Kilkenny office, with a smaller office facility being maintained in Carlow for use as required,” added the spokesperson, who stressed that there will be “no job losses as a result of this change”.