Probation FAQs

Once we get your referral from your Probation Officer, our Training and Employment Officer contacts you by phone or letter to arrange the first appointment. The first time we meet, it’s about getting to know each other and how we’ll work together. We’ll discuss your work experience and your education and training qualifications. You can talk about your goals for the future, and we’ll put together a plan to achieve those goals. The meeting will usually take place in the same Probation Office where you meet your Probation Officer so it will be a familiar location.

This will depend on your goals and how much support you want – we don’t have a set number of appointments. We will agree on an engagement plan which will guide how we work together after our first couple of meetings.

We will try to contact you to re-arrange the appointment. If we can’t get in touch with you, we will check in with your Probation Officer in case there has been a change in your circumstances.

If you haven’t yet been referred to the Linkage Training and Employment Officer, you can talk to your Probation Officer about getting involved or you can find out more by getting in touch with us through the ‘Contact Us’ section on our website or by sending an email to admin@tosu.ie. When you start working with a Training and Employment Officer they will give you their phone number. (If you lose it, your Probation Officer should have it.) 

There are Training and Employment Officers covering nearly all the Probation offices in Ireland. If you move while working with one of our staff, they will be able to pass on the details of any support plans and goals to a new Tosú team.

Unfortunately, the community-based staff on our Linkage service can’t continue to work with you while you are in custody. Depending on the length of your sentence, we could either start working together again when you are released (if you are still under Probation supervision). Another option is to contact our Tosú Gate team in prison to get talking through your goals and undertake some planning for your future. 

We cannot share personal information about another person, even if they are a family member. This is to protect their privacy and is in line with data protection laws.

All our services are voluntary. If someone doesn’t want to commit to engaging, we are always happy to have a chat about what we do, what we can offer, how we support people and answer any questions they may have.