Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this matter. This is a priority area in the programme for Government. I see at home how important youth diversion projects are. The newest one just started in east Clare in the past fortnight. This is the first time that the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, has been here leading a debate. I congratulate him on his new role and wish him the best in the Department. We have a good man leading the youth diversion area.

It is important that we broaden the service even more. I note that is in the programme for Government. It generally tends to locate in big towns but we have seen in recent years that the problems young people face as they navigate those difficult adolescent and teenage years are not just confined to urban street settings. Many children and adolescents in rural areas are also struggling. The east Clare youth diversion programme that the Minister of State has established will go some way towards addressing that.

One alarming thing I recently encountered was the case of a young person, not yet 18, who had gone through addiction services. When the young person returned to the home environment, the very people who were trying to sell that person drugs for a long time reappeared. When people are treated for drug addiction, they remove themselves from the sales market, a client is gone and a sales base is gone. In this particular instance, I was told that the person refused several times to buy the drugs that the person had been weaned off of during the treatment period. The young person was eventually held to the ground and injected by a gang of thugs. We are doing all the right stuff with youth diversion and leading people off the wrong path, but more can be done, particularly for young people who have gone through addiction therapy services. There are fantastic services but there seems to be a drop-off when they leave that support network and return to the home environment.

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