Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful for the opportunity to make a contribution. This is important legislation. It is a topic on which Sinn Féin has been active for a long time, as the Minister of State will be aware. With that in mind, I will mention my colleagues Deputies Ward, Mitchell and Martin Kenny, who brought forward the Coercion of a Minor (Misuse of Drugs Amendment) Bill 2022. That Bill was without doubt the catalyst for the legislation we have in front of us today. There is no doubt in mind but that the two Bills are linked.

It is bad enough for an adult to be involved in criminality but it takes real evil to compel, coerce, direct or deceive a child into carrying out criminal acts. An adult who does so should face the full rigour of the law. It is important that we legislate to create a specific criminal offence for an adult who compels, coerces, directs or deceives a child into carrying out criminal acts, or who induces, invites, aids, abets, counsels or procures a child to engage in criminal activity. Therefore, the sentence must match the nature of the crime and we believe the maximum sentence of five years is simply not strong enough. In the Sinn Féin Coercion of a Minor (Misuse of Drugs Amendment) Bill 2022, we proposed a ten-year sentence, which reflects the gravity of the crime. This is necessary, given the seriousness of the issue and the impact such behaviour can have on the child in question and the wider community where these offences are occurring.

In addition, we must also do more to protect children and communities, build resilience and divert children away from the criminal justice system. The approach to doing this must tackle the main players in organised crime, especially drug crime, and tackle poverty and inequality. Areas which are ravaged by drugs and crime are the same areas that are ravaged by a lack of services, poverty, a lack of housing, unemployment, underemployment, homelessness and a dearth of community and sporting facilities. While we must tackle crime, we must also make the alternative to crime more attractive for young people. We must ensure that work pays and workers have their rights respected. We must make housing affordable, available and accessible. We must pay workers a living wage, abolish sub-minimum rates of pay, ensure car insurance is accessible and affordable, and guarantee apprentices the minimum wage when they start an apprenticeship. All of these things can show young people that there is a better, honest and more attractive way to live than engaging in crime. In addition, we need to empower communities to tackle inequality and poverty, and ensure that those same communities have services and facilities, especially sports facilities. The reason I am labouring the point about investment in sporting and community facilities is that being involved in community clubs and sports is a good foundation for us to give our young people. It gives them an alternative to what they might see as a potentially flashy or attractive type of lifestyle.

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