Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the statements on the youth justice strategy. I commend Deputy Mattie McGrath on moving the business of the House along so much. I am standing in for my colleagues who are en routebut who will be taking up a later slot.

I listened carefully to the Minister of State’s contribution at the start of this debate, as well as the contributions of other Members. It is very clear that services directed towards the intervention and prevention of crime can play a significant and pivotal role in the lives of young people who are at risk of becoming involved in or indeed who are already entering into a life of crime. The work that is being carried out by the State agencies, An Garda Síochána and indeed the justice system in this respect is to be commended.

I thank all of those who work every day to build safer communities up and down the country. Our aim in this House should be to provide the necessary supports and policy basis to ensure that they can carry out their duties effectively and efficiently in the interests of young people, their families and the wider community. Those necessary supports and that policy direction are not just the remit of the Department of Justice, but that of many other Departments in the State as well. I have heard reference to our education system and to our sporting institutions, which are governed by various different Departments. It is incumbent on all of us to recognise the worth of programmes like the sports capital programme and the very significant impact they can have in communities across the country, particularly where there may be deficiencies in the standard of facilities, as Deputy Ó Ríordáin quite rightly made reference to. Where reasonable facilities are provided, kids and young people will go to them. That is the honest truth of it. If we allow sporting organisations to operate in environments that are less than decent, that can lead to people dropping out, which can have negative consequences for the children involved.

The issues that lead to young people being in situations that put them at odds with the law and with society are complex and diverse. We must therefore recognise that the solutions must cover a wide scope of activities. The motivating factors that lead young people towards crime can change over time. As such, our approach should be regularly reviewed and adapted to maintain the effectiveness of our efforts and of those of other agencies.

For the last 19 years, I have had the privilege of representing a very young community. In fact, it is the fastest growing community in Europe. It is also incredibly ethnically diverse and, as other speakers have said, unfortunately racially based abuse can be targeted at young people and young adults in a most insidious way that knocks their self-confidence and sense of worth and identity. That can have very negative consequences. On a related matter, I will take this opportunity to commend the decision of the under-21 Republic of Ireland team to walk off the pitch this week. If the team is not prepared to tolerate that at an international game, it sends a really good message to young people. I will get the details later. Perhaps the team made the decisions themselves or perhaps it was their manager. I do not know.

We have a body of work to do to provide the necessary supports and policy basis for these youth diversionary tactics and strategies we engage with right across the board. I particularly commend those in communities like Balbriggan, Swords, Lusk and places like that. I refer to all of the sporting organisations, the gardaí themselves, the youth diversionary projects and the likes of Youthreach, which spends considerable time and effort on this matter and to which we need to give more funding on an ongoing basis so that it can support those young people in finding purpose and in accessing education and society at large.

I commend the Minister and the Department on the work they did on the previously published Youth Justice Strategy 2021-2027, which sets out a very wide range of developments aimed at preventing crime and preventing the further development of criminal activity among individuals who have already engaged in it. The strategy sets out aims that will enhance an evidence-based policy approach. Importantly, there is an inbuilt review which I understand is to take place at the mid-point of the strategy's implementation period. This is an important step that will allow us to improve upon what is working well and adjust those aspects of the strategy that are underperforming.

I will take the opportunity to highlight a number of aspects of the strategy. These include the development and work of the governance and strategy group. This group is fundamental to the implementation of the strategy, consideration of the development of a dedicated youth justice service and the enhancement of wraparound supports. These measures provide a framework that allow the relevant authorities to work within and enhance the impact of our efforts. The strategy also sets out a pathway for engagement with our counterparts in Northern Ireland with regard to youth justice strategies. This will facilitate the sharing of information on best practice that will strengthen efforts on both sides of our Border and play a positive role in providing safer communities across the island.

Building a system that involves all of the relevant authorities and the communities themselves will give us the best chance of success into the future. The further development of community-based projects for children and young people who are hard to reach will be an important step in this effort and we must pursue it with vigour to reach some of the most vulnerable children in the country. This should also include projects and programmes that involve schools and teaching staff as well as engagement with families.

The integration forums that are present in quite a number of communities, including communities in Dublin Fingal and Dublin West, do absolutely Trojan work to achieve some really important goals including finding ways to empower young people who come from various countries around the globe. These forums do really significant and good work. It is important to highlight them. I am sure the model is replicated in other constituencies around the country but their work is probably seen most acutely in the suburbs of Dublin.

I will also highlight the role that young people can have in the development of effective policies and procedures. If we engage with and learn from young people who have been through the youth diversion programmes, they can give us an invaluable insight into the approaches that can speak to the needs, fears and barriers facing young people who want to exit criminal lifestyles or lifestyles that subject them to criminal activity. Such engagement can bolster community bonds and increase the impact of attempts to prevent crime and to divert young people from it.

The work of the Garda youth diversion programme is vital to the successful building of social cohesion between communities, gardaí and State services. As the Minister of State highlighted, there are currently 105 such programmes across the State. We should be ambitious in expanding the resources and support infrastructure of these programmes to maximise their ability to have a valuable and life-changing influence on young people and to protect them.

I know the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy McEntee, are heavily engaged in ensuring that An Garda Síochána is appropriately resourced. We must also strive to provide gardaí with the sort of supports that will allow them to stay within the force. While our public services have an attrition rate of approximately 4% per annum, which is less than the rate for the private sector, the rate of resignations within An Garda Síochána is running at approximately 1%, which is a bit higher than what we usually experience. As a result of the success of our economy and the current jobs market, it is difficult to retain people. There are opportunities in other spheres of security both domestically and across the world. Investing in the career pathway for gardaí gives them a real opportunity to recognise that you can go to Templemore and you can do continuing professional development, which can include specialisation, along with the civilian members of An Garda Síochána to provide the sorts of services that are required within the youth diversionary projects and the general sphere of getting into our schools to talk to students at a relatively young age to show them that gardaí are not just enforcers of the law, but also people who can be relied upon and spoken to and, with a bit of luck, people who can give a bit of good advice to those young people who seek their support. I take the opportunity to highlight that in the few minutes I have remaining.

Finally, I will highlight the role of personnel such as probation officers, juvenile liaison officers and more. These are the very people I referred to in my previous remarks about supporting and enhancing the role they carry out for us. Enhanced resources would ease the stress on the current system and infrastructure and allow children and young people who need these people's time and attention to be provided with it.

I look forward to working with the Minister, particularly in the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, of which I am a member. I also look forward to furthering the goals that are set out in this youth justice strategy and indeed in its midpoint review, which will take place in the next couple of years. I very much look forward to future progress in this regard.

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