Probation officers are facing an increased risk of physical violence from the offenders they supervise.
A union conference was told today that some of the offenders are even wearing bullet-proof body armour because they are at risk from other offenders.
According to Mary McDonald of the Probation Officers Branch of IMPACT, in recent years the probation service has seen a gradual shift to clients who pose a higher risk because of drug use, particularly cocaine.
It was found that the carrying of lethal weapons is also now more common.
She told the IMPACT conference that under the Criminal Justice Act 2006 and the Sex Offenders Act 2001 part of a custodial sentence can be suspended, with the released offender supervised by the Probation Service.
According to Ms McDonald, gross overcrowding in prisons has increased demands for that service. However, she claimed that no additional resources had been put in place to cope with that.
She said probation officers often had to meet clients in offices, or at an offender's home, without the security afforded by a prison or garda station.
Ms McDonald said that as a result probation officers were working in a more dangerous environment and warned that that pressure and risk would intensify because of the public service recruitment embargo.
She said that there should be a comprehensive risk assessment for each offender before they are placed under the supervision of probation officers.
She also asked whether - given the escalation in violent and lethal attacks between criminal gangs - it was realistic to expect the probation service in its current form to supervise those convicted of gang-related crimes.
