Mr. Ben Ryan:

I thank the committee for inviting me in. I am head of criminal justice policy in the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice is fully committed to helping to significantly reduce the harms caused to families and communities by illicit drug use. The three main policy objectives we are seeking to achieve in this area are: tackling organised crime; minimising the harms caused to those with addiction issues; and diverting people from involvement in crime and illicit drug-related activity.

These areas are complex and often interlinked. For example, a person with an addiction issue may also be involved in the sale and supply of drugs or have close associations with those involved in organised crime. It is well-established that organised criminal groups will exploit vulnerable people and coerce or groom them into being involved in criminality. It is important to recognise that the actions under way in this area must be viewed holistically. There is no single policy solution that can resolve all the harms caused to society by the use of illicit drugs. The stark reality of drug use in Ireland today means this work is a high priority for our Department.

We have a particular focus on targeting the work of organised crime groups, which inflict intimidation and violence on families and communities while grooming and coercing vulnerable young people into drug-related criminal activity. The Minister for Justice has recently brought forward new laws to allow for the prosecution of those involved in grooming and coercing young people into criminal activity. The Criminal Justice (Engagement of Children in Criminal Activity) Act 2024 makes it an offence for an adult to compel, coerce, direct or deceive a child for the purpose of committing crime, with those found guilty potentially liable to face up to five years in prison, and that is in addition to potentially facing a sentence for the actual crime committed by the young person. There is an additional penalty on top of that, recognising the harm done to children in such circumstances.

A programme is currently operating in two trial sites, colloquially known as the Greentown programme, and the trial sites are known as Whitetown and Yellowtown. This targets young people who have been groomed into criminal gangs already and provides them and their families with supports to help them to move away from criminality. This is an innovative intervention that aims to frustrate the grooming of children into network-related criminal activities - for example, drug dealing or drug-related intimidation - by adults, and provide meaningful and practical routes out for network-involved children. The programme was developed in partnership with the University of Limerick and the research evidence into programmes, policy and practice, REPPP, team down there. It is built on four complementary but distinct programme pillars to respond to the problems presented by criminal networks.

The first pillar is the intensive family programme pillar, and the aim of that pillar is to improve family functioning and parenting and to provide the relevant supports to families who want to see their young people move away from being drawn into criminal activities. The second pillar is around pro-social opportunities, and that is to provide young people with viable options other than selling drugs, largely in communities where there is a limited array of options available to young people compared with people in other areas. The third pillar is the community efficacy pillar, and this seeks to build the resources of the community to withstand the criminal influence of organised criminal networks and gangs operating in their areas. The fourth and final pillar is the network disruption pillar, and that is aimed at targeting members of criminal networks themselves who groom children for crime. As I said, the Greentown programme is operating in two trial sites that are anonymised. The reason for anonymising the trial sites is to protect both the young people participating in the programme and also the various staff members, youth workers, social workers and so on who are involved as well, given the extent of the reach of the criminal gangs in these areas.

The community efficacy pillar also includes running a communications campaign to counter the use and sale of illicit drugs, while the network disruption pillar aims to reduce the influence of drug debts and drug-related intimidation on young people and their families. We also have been working very closely with An Garda Síochána to target serious organised criminal groups who have fled the country and we are working closely with international partners on bringing them to justice and intercepting their operations when drugs are moved into or through this country.

On the second aspect of reducing harm, as we all know, many people with addiction issues live chaotic lives, as a result of which they can come into contact with the criminal justice system. Government policy is to adapt a human rights-led approach to policing and penal policy, and that includes considering how to reduce the unintended harms our policies and procedures across the criminal justice system may have on those with addiction issues or other vulnerabilities. There are four recommendations in the report of the citizens' assembly that relate to this dimension of our work. Recommendations Nos. 11, 13, 19 and 23 are the recommendations in question and I am happy to expand on our response to any of those should the committee wish me to do so.

The third strand of our work is on diversion. A significant area of focus in the work of the Department is trying to divert people, in particular young people, away from involvement in crime and illicit drug-related activity. I have mentioned the Greentown programme but we also fund youth diversion programmes throughout the country. We have expanded the number by adding an additional four youth diversion programmes, with two more on the way this year to ensure there is full geographical coverage for any child anywhere in the country who needs assistance in diverting them away from crime. The funding for youth justice and youth diversion programmes has grown substantially. It has effectively trebled since 2014, and was almost €33 million in last year's Estimates. Recommendations Nos. 13, 14 and 17 from the report of the citizens' assembly relate to this dimension of our work, and again, I am able to expand on our response to them should the committee wish me to do so.

I am happy to address any specific questions the committee may have or go into further details on anything I have mentioned.