Dáil debates

Wednesday, 6 October 2021

The National Youth Justice Strategy 2021-2027 and Supporting Community Safety: Statements

 

2:27 pm

Photo of Catherine MurphyCatherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I broadly welcome the National Youth Justice Strategy and commend the work of the expert steering group in putting it together, as well as the work that went into it at ministerial and departmental level. There is a very welcome focus on children's rights throughout the document. The strategy places an emphasis on early intervention, prevention and diversion, with the use of detention acknowledged as a last resort and we would all agree with that. A lot of work has gone into the development of this strategy. If enacted, and I underline "if", the policies being presented by the Minister today will help a lot of young people in this country who are in need of support. However, there have been countless strategy documents published over the years but few, if any, have been fully implemented. It is fair to say that we need assurances about implementation. There is no point in putting together a very good strategy document if there is no commitment to implement it. The key question is how this strategy is taken from paper into practice. What timeframes and key performance indicators will be set out and who will be responsible for ensuring they are adhered to? We need this strategy to be delivered in practice.

The youth justice oversight group is a very welcome aspect of the new justice strategy and, if done correctly, this group could be the key to ensuring that the document does not become yet another set of very good ideas that are not implemented. It is vital that membership of this group represents the lived experience of young people and youth workers.

It has to represent the situation on the ground rather than what people think it is. There is often a tendency to stack the boards with departmental officials, policy advisers and so on, but doing something behind a desk is very different from people who have a working knowledge of what needs to be done and where the priorities need to be set. Meaningful oversight will be really important. The saying in disability activism is "nothing about us without us". There is a very strong argument for including some young people on this oversight and I am not talking about one token person. That would be extremely beneficial.

Will the Minister of State outline at what stage the formation of the oversight group has reached? Who will sit on it? When will it meet? That will be the difference. I very much support the work of the Garda youth diversion programme around the country. Those involved take a youth work approach and play an essential role in keeping young people out of the justice system. It is not every youngster who will be suitable for the youth diversion programme. The nature of the crime is relevant. If it goes beyond antisocial behaviour and is something covered by the criminal code, then the person might not be suitable for the programme. The Garda carried out an audit between 2010 and 2018 and discovered cases involving upwards of 7,000 youngsters where there was no follow-up in respect of crimes that were not considered suitable in the context of the youth diversion programme. These included serious assault, theft and criminal damage. Too often we hear it said that someone is under 18 years of age and you really cannot do anything. Not doing anything invites those who have committed serious crimes to move up the food chain. It is unacceptable that that number of crimes would not be progressed because it sends out a bad signal and is not good for those individuals either.

Far greater resources are needed. Earlier this year I carried out an analysis of Garda staffing and resources across the country and found that, with only two exceptions, the number of Garda youth diversion programmes in each division was unchanged since 2016, and the majority retained at 2013 levels. That has to be looked at. It is a very good programme but it cannot be so sparse that it is not meaningful. With fluctuations in youth crime, it is really important that there is a response and it is updated routinely.

The Department of Justice has stated its intention to develop the service, but the expansion of existing services has been slow and a greater degree of urgency is required. Every item of policy contained in this document needs to be backed up with a lot of evidence, not just from the Garda but also from youth workers and child psychologists. I have to question the rationale behind the extension of the Garda youth diversion programme to children between eight and 11 years of age. I am concerned as to whether that is an appropriate response for people in that age group. The Irish Penal Reform Trust has pointed out the importance of not labelling children as possible offenders at a very early stage because it becomes very problematic as people assume that behaviour. Have other avenues of support been considered for this age group, such as after-school programmes or other resources? I carried out an analysis of the funding that went into a youth work programmes. It is very patchy throughout the country. There is no evidence to show that when an area grows, the services in that area, which might have a very young demographic, grow too. There is no evidence that money follows population or demographics. That needs to be looked at because that is where you will do some of the diversion before you get to Garda diversion. I have seen it work very well with a small number of people in my area who were identified very early on and diverted into very positive activities rather than becoming a problem for the youth diversion programme.

We have to be very careful. You often see articles in the media about young people that are very negative. That has to be balanced up because the vast majority of youngsters would never give five minutes of trouble but they do feel labelled by the them-and-us presentation. It is very important that we foster good role models and that for all the negative things there are positive things said as well. There is no shortage of positive things, but they are not highlighted. I recall one diversion programme in my area whereby youngsters were in a scheme that led to them being involved in a lot of positive activities. A couple of them said to me “Do I have to do something wrong to get to do some of those things?” Not providing the other services presents a real problem. We must look at this matter in its totality. The very small amount of money that goes into youth work is a really good investment when you consider the cost, for example, of incarceration later on, the nuisance that certain behaviour causes if it is at the antisocial level and what happens when it goes beyond being a nuisance when it ends up being contemplated by the criminal code. As I said, a significant number of people end up in the very serious category and their crimes have not even been followed up on. That needs to be addressed.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.