Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak today. I thank those responsible for the development of the new Youth Justice Strategy 2021-2027. It is a comprehensive report and contains some good points and suggestions on how we tackle the ever-growing problems of youth crime. Unfortunately, those who get involved in crime are becoming younger and younger. It is worrying that crime is seen to be appealing to the younger generation. I firmly believe in taking the approach that prevention is always better than cure. I have said many times in this House that the key to prevention of youth crime is education at an early age. In my role as a politician and in the GAA, I have come into contact with many young people who, unfortunately, became involved with the wrong people and ended up coming before the courts. As a society, we must always ensure that crime never pays. We have seen in recent times, particularly in my own county of Louth, where criminals get children involved in drug crime with the lure of designer clothes and shoes to begin with. Once these children get involved, it becomes almost impossible for them to get free from the criminals. This is where we have to start. We must work on these vulnerable children at an early age and we need to start as early as primary school. Committing crime must be shown as the wrong thing to do and not highlighted as cool. Kids at an early age are exposed to the so-called rewards of crime and think it is a way forward for them. Education is the key to stopping children entering into a life of crime. The strategy we are discussing today speaks about supporting the youths once they have entered into the system. This support is needed. However, we need to concentrate more on prevention measures.

We need to start in primary schools and work with the teachers and other staff who deal with the students daily. We need to help front-line workers and provide them with more training and access to best international practice on how successful countries are dealing with crime. The measures should be seen as part of the curriculum in the same way as mathematics and Irish. It should be normal for children at an early age to be taught their core subjects in addition to how wrong crime is and the dangers which it can lead to.

In my constituency office in Dundalk, I have dealt with a number of vulnerable kids who, unfortunately, got involved in crime at an early age. In these cases, it was evident that if these kids were shown better guidance at an early age, there would have been a good chance they would not have got involved in crime. Apart from working with schools, it is also important that the parents of these children are helped. I know this may not be practical in all cases, but in some situations, parents are crying out for help. This help should be available to those parents. No one knows a child better than the parent does. If we can put support structures in place at an early stage for these parents, I strongly believe we can have better outcomes.

This strategy, it is fair to say, is largely a developmental framework which will provide a starting point for a range of actions and initiatives. We need this strategy to work and it is important in this regard that we work closely together to quickly get this initiative, as detailed in the strategy, off the ground. The time for talk and discussion is over. We all know the importance of this and it is fair to say the solutions are obvious. Therefore, all we need now is implementation.

I come from a sporting background and, being honest, if I was not involved in sport, I would not be here today. People think sport is for elite people; it is not. I was lucky to have played many sports. I played GAA, soccer, rugby and running, and swimming at a time when we did not have a swimming pool. We had a swimming river. Even if the facilities are not available, we should still be able to help. Last night I went to a GAA blitz in Darver, County Louth, where there were at least 300 children present with their parents and grandparents. This happens not only in the GAA, but in soccer, rugby and all sporting organisations. We should invest more money in these sports organisations. I mentioned earlier that the younger generation needs support and guidance, and who better to provide that help than their parents. Is there any way we can get more money into sports? I know people who say that they are not a good footballer, not a good runner or not a good athlete, but they can be a volunteer such as a referee or a coach. People can be in different positions when doing sport. When I was growing up, we had two options: go around the corner and start smoking behind the wall like everybody else or play sport. The type of people one hangs around with has a big influence on one's life.

People think this concerns money and everything else, but this is not just about money. I have been elected as a Deputy on three occasions. I recall when knocking on people's doors while canvassing, I saw numerous children, through the window, playing with their PlayStation or computer games. Years ago, that never happened. People were told to go out into the fresh air and get a bit of exercise. I am a firm believer that a healthy body is a healthy mind and it is important to get as many people involved in sport as we can.

I would not like to think that in two years' time we may be back here discussing the same situation. I welcome this strategy, but I would prefer if we had a defined timeline on how we will implement these measures. We need actions and not words to solve this problem. Teachers in primary schools can play a big part in this, as can parents and grandparents. All these people are putting their hands out looking for help. This is a fantastic start, but I asked the Minister to ensure that we do not return to this stage in two years' time talking about the exact same issues again. I keep saying that prevention is better than cure. From my own experience as a politician and in the GAA, people need support and guidance, and there are many others who want to help them.

As people in my constituency will know, my constituency office is next door to the courthouse. If people come to my constituency office on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, they will see the many handcuffed young people taken into the courthouse, with their parents and grandparents crying. Now is the right time to start. Prevention is the cure when they are at a young age. Let us not continue down the road and say that every other time is right. Now is the right time.

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