John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

Responsibility for the development of treatment services for young offenders, where required, in and out of the prison setting, falls to the Irish Youth Justice and Probation Services. These services come under the remit of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, but overarching responsibility for the development of appropriate services will lie with the office of the Minister of State with responsibility for children and youth affairs as responsibility for youth affairs is being transferred to that office.

Action 19 of the national drugs strategy focuses on early intervention with youth where early use of alcohol or drugs comes to the attention of the Garda. Where this occurs, intervention by the community police and-or the health and social services to address the individual's needs is appropriate. This action has been progressed through the work of the national drugs strategy team and the drugs task forces at the more local level. I understand from the Garda that, although considerable informal links are in place involving the statutory and voluntary service providers, there is a need to establish more formal procedures in this regard. This issue is being followed up by the Health Service Executive in the context of the findings of a report on services for under-18s, produced by that body under action 49 of the national drugs strategy. This measure focuses on the development and implementation of guidelines for treatment for under-18s. Guidelines are now in place and progress on their implementation has been made in some areas, but I understand they have yet to be implemented nationwide.

Under the national youth justice strategy 2008-10, the office of the Minister of State with responsibility for children and youth affairs is seeking to develop a number of pilot projects aimed at early identification and greater targeting of young people at risk of offending. That office is focused on developing earlier-stage case management through appropriate conferencing, in partnership with the Irish Youth Justice Service, the HSE, the National Educational Welfare Board and An Garda Síochána. It is intended that appropriate treatment services will be made available in cases where substance misuse is a factor contributing to the problems involved.

Under the Children's Act 2001, the young person's probation section, a division of the probation service, works with under-18s who come before the courts. The Act recognises that there is no single way of successfully dealing with the problems associated with youth offending and sees detention as the least favoured option. Therefore, it has shifted the emphasis away from residential-custodial care to care in the community. Under the Act, the young person's probation section utilises a number of graduated approaches across family conferences, community-based sanctions, parental supervision orders, probation reports, deferment of detention, detention and supervision, supervision after detention and voluntary aftercare to deal with offenders. Where substance misuse is a factor, appropriate treatment is made available, up to and including residential rehabilitation.

In the prison context, the Irish Prison Service drugs policy and strategy, Keeping Drugs Out of Prisons, includes a commitment to provide drug treatment options for those who need them. Progress is being made towards fulfilling that commitment, including the contracting of Merchants Quay Ireland, a voluntary sector organisation, to provide counselling services.

As the Deputy will be aware, my Department is in the process of developing a new national drugs strategy for the period 2009-16. The new strategy will continue to include measures aimed at trying to prevent young people from becoming involved with drugs, as well as treatment measures aimed at helping those who do develop problems.

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