Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are discussing diverting young people away from criminal activity today. The best way to do that is to offer our young people hope. It is the hope that, if they fulfil their social contract, then the Government will do the same. Imagine being a young person in Ireland today and having the ambition to have a safe and secure home. It is almost impossible due to Government failings in housing. Imagine being a young person waiting for appointments with mental health services or disability services and being failed. Imagine being a young person who is waiting for a school place with provision for additional needs and being failed.

I take the opportunity to express my solidarity with the parents who are sleeping outside Leinster House tonight for 24 hours to raise awareness that their kids are not getting special education places this year. The Government needs to redress this imbalance and properly invest in housing, health and the educational needs of our young people. When the Government fails, vulnerable young people fall between the cracks of society. In a real republic, youth justice would give all the young people of this island an equal chance to reach their full potential, but successive Governments have failed in this. I am honoured to have been appointed the Sinn Féin spokesperson on community, safety and youth justice. I wish the Minister of State well in his role over the next year. I will work with him in a tangible way but I will also hold him to account.

When we think of young people and crime, we usually think of gangs of youths up to no good, but what are we doing to engage with these young people? The Minister of State mentioned a youth diversion programme that is in two locations so far. That is great but it needs to be in every constituency in Dublin and probably every constituency in the State. What he mentioned is only a drop in the ocean.

Last year, I visited the Solas Project in Dublin 8. I accompanied its workers on outreach as they engaged with young people who are involved in crime or in danger of becoming involved in crime. Their motto is: "Nobody is too far gone, everybody is worth it, everyone can change, communities can improve, society can flourish." I agree with that wholeheartedly but they need to be resourced. That project needs to be replicated in other parts of our city and counties. I spoke with some of the young people who could see no way out of poverty other than getting involved in crime. They look around and see their area being regentrified. They see the new buildings going up and they know that they will never be able to afford a place to live in their own area. The outreach workers I accompanied were professional. They engaged with young people where they were at. They supported them in suggesting some positive changes they could make. Solas uses evidence-based methods that have led young people to move away from a life of crime.

In an area of high poverty, it is very easy for young people to get involved in criminality. They see criminals with flash jackets, new runners, top of the range cars and a seemingly endless supply of money. They also see an attraction in becoming a somebody. However, let me be clear: these criminals are absolute nobodies. They groom our children, suck the lifeblood out of our communities and offer nothing in return. We need to see projects, such as Solas and the one the Minister of State mentioned, replicated throughout the State and the rest of Dublin.

I raised this matter with the Minister recently. Parts of my constituency are basically under siege by gangs of young people. This is often written off as antisocial behaviour. Nothing annoys a community more when it is said, "It is only antisocial behaviour." Let me be clear. Drug dealing is not antisocial behaviour; it is a criminal activity. Intimidation is not antisocial behaviour but a criminal activity. Vandalism of public and private property is not antisocial behaviour but a criminal offence. Assaults are not antisocial behaviour but are criminal offences. Arson attacks, many of which my area has been subject to over the past year or so, are not antisocial behaviour; they are criminal offences.

We need to resource the Garda and give it the powers to deal with the criminal activity in our communities. Our communities have every right to feel safe.

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