James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy O’Callaghan on bringing forward this motion, which calls for a review to examine the causes of failings within the Garda youth diversion programme. This motion sets forward the key findings of the Garda audit; the background to the juvenile diversion programmes; the need for ministerial accountability; and increased interdepartmental co-operation, specifically concerning mental health training and supports.

A recent Garda audit found that almost 5% of reported young offender crimes were not appropriately progressed to conclusion by An Garda Síochána between 2010 and 2017. Almost 3,000 young offenders were not prosecuted. These reported incidents missed a prime opportunity to turn a young person away from criminality. Some 57 of the child offenders referred to have since died, suggesting that many of those participating in the programme lived chaotic lives. In turn, they were failed by the State and so too were a huge number of innocent victims.

It is also very distressing that the victims of crime were denied justice. It is right and proper that the victims of the 55 serious crimes, including rape, sexual assault and child neglect, highlighted in this review were informed without delay.

Only a few years ago a ground-breaking British study found that 4% of young people are responsible for nearly half of all youth crime and that by the age of 16 they had committed an average of 86 crimes each. The Peterborough Adolescent and Young Adult Development Study was carried out by Cambridge’s Institute of Criminology. There is little reason to believe that a similar research programme carried out here would provide statistics of any real difference. This research has profound consequences because it supports the contention that to prevent young people entering criminality, it is essential to get in early, instill positive attitudes and teach them how to solve their everyday problems in a better way and that policy-makers should put an emphasis on teaching young people right from wrong. That does not mean lecturing from on high, but rather positive engagement so that they, their families and communities understand the consequences of young persons' actions and that there are alternative positive pathways and that, crucially, these alternative pathways are provided for them, they are supported to take these alternative pathways and that their families and communities are supported, especially where poverty is involved.

To deliver justice, systems need to address key facts about youth crime. Early intervention and identification is critical but it must be done in an intelligent manner. The key purpose of early intervention and identification is to understand the causes of youth crime, prevent criminality and divert young people away from a path of crime. However, one must be very careful. Early identification of at-risk children if done wrongly runs the risk of labelling and stigmatising. Every child deserves an opportunity to be diverted away from a life of criminality and it is also in the interests of society. To do this, we need a cross-departmental approach.

On the 19 January 2018 a working group was set up examine the psychological and mental health services for children and young people. The group includes the Department of Health, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and Tusla. I was surprised that the Department of Justice and Equality was not included and hoped that might be a mistake. When I asked the Minister of State with responsibility for mental health why the Department of Justice and Equality was not involved, I was told that the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, requested his officials discuss this suggestion with their counterparts in the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, and I thank the Minister of State for doing that. They in turn, however, had been advised by Department of Justice and Equality that they do not see a need for representation on this group, as it was not considered of immediate or direct relevance to their area. I believe this was an extraordinary statement by the Department of Justice and Equality. The connection between young people, their mental health and the vulnerability to pathways into criminality are well established and I would ask the Minister of State how can he stand over his Department's statement in this area.

Young people today are exposed to a barrage of pornography and violence and amoral content online, including social media. I do not have time to go into the Government's utter failure to protect our children from the negativity and damaging aspects of social media - for example, this Government’s continued failure to appoint a digital safety commissioner. What is clear, however, is that young people’s mental health is being damaged by social media. The link between poor mental health of young people and the vulnerability of those young people to being dragged into criminality is well understood. Mental health supports serve a key role in preventing crime and protecting the public from juvenile crime. The Government needs to promote an effective cross-departmental programme to ensure the provision of appropriate pathways for young people at risk, which needs to include the Department of Justice and Equality.

This motion recognises that just as young offenders were failed by the State, so too were their victims. The Policing Authority stated that “the children are failed and the existing and future victims are failed”. I hope this motion will lead to a review into this Garda failure, encouraging greater co-operation between the Minister for Justice and Equality and the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs.

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