Ms Bernie Meally:

I agree with a number of the points made, particularly regarding the need for a dedicated community policing service and roles. In areas where there are dedicated community gardaí, they engage well with the young people and the families they work with. In some areas there are difficulties or challenges and they need the support of local Garda management to protect the time and space in order that they can attend a committee meeting or go to a local youth club or project, sit with a group of young people, drink coffee and talk about what the number on their shoulder means, for example. We have seen some wonderful work done with a group of young people who engaged with a project and, through this, we did a relationship and sexuality education, RSE, programme. As the conversations happened, the staff started to feel there may have been some inappropriate behaviour happening. Immediately after the session, in consultation with their line manager of course, the staff spoke with community gardaí. They came in a very informal role to participate in the RSE programme, speaking about the legalities and illegalities of some of the behaviour. There were positive discussions around consent and it was an important learning opportunity for those young people. Had one of those community gardaí received a call and been told a prisoner needed a lift to court, we may not have had that learning experience for those young people. It is important that local Garda management supports those community gardaí. That echoes some of what has been said here already.

A particular skill set is required for a community garda. I am speaking from the youth perspective. Not every person can walk into a youth group or a group of young people and feel comfortable to engage in a meaningful way with them. Where it is successful, community gardaí come in with their prevention hat on, willing to build relationships with young people. It is not about looking for crimes but rather some of the solutions and how to support young people and vulnerable families. There is also a need for greater and more comprehensive training packages for those in that community garda role, as the skills are very different from somebody who might be in a regular unit or a traffic corps, for example.

We have seen an inconsistency - that word was used earlier - in how and where restorative justice operates throughout the country. We have had some good feedback from young people and families who have engaged in restorative processes with the gardaí and we would encourage more of that. In some areas, it does not happen at all. We see the restorative process, when it is engaged in very genuinely on both sides, as a fair and equal process. It has some positive outcomes for young people and their families in terms of understanding the impact of behaviour on other people. Young people can be impulsive and may not think about the impact on people they affect with their behaviour. Through various restorative processes, there is increased awareness and many more positive outcomes for young people.