Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Deputies Coppinger and Boyd Barrett from the Independent and Parties Technical Group are sharing time. They have three and a half minutes each.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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In this debate on youth crime, there has not been much emphasis on the huge danger of violent misogyny and the targeting of young boys to essentially hate women and blame them for the situation they face. "Adolescence", a series on Netflix, has opened up a big discussion in society around this. The plot is very reminiscent of the horrific killing of Ana Kriégel in this country. We have to say that sexual crime among under-18s has rocketed. It has increased approximately sixfold. Fifty per cent of 13-year-olds have viewed pornography. The manosphere, led by the likes of Andrew Tate and company, has operated unchecked for years, promoting rape and violence against women. Sixteen- to 18-year-olds who set up accounts are, as has been found by research, targeted within 23 minutes if they are seen to be young men.

On the impact this is having, a survey on traditional views of manhood indicated that these were much higher among younger men. Two in five men overall had these views among 67% of younger people. This is extremely worrying. We know that Tate is facing sex trafficking charges. In a survey carried out in 2023, eight out of ten 16- to 17-year-olds had viewed Andrew Tate's social media. Almost half of 16- to 24-year-olds had a positive view of him. This is not just imagination; it is very real. Half of young fathers had a very positive view of him as well. In a survey done by the Rape Crisis Centre, 46% of men believe women exaggerate sexual violence and rape. Women's Aid conducted a survey which found that 52% of men believed they should dominate and control in a relationship. Some 46% said that real men should not care about women's opinions or feelings. Why has there been no response to this real threat? Where is the Government education programme? We had a sex education Bill in 2015 in respect of which no real action, including the training of teachers and so on, has been taken.

We cannot leave it to parents and teachers to compete with a well-funded manosphere. Parents and teachers are no match for the social media companies. It is estimated that X, for example, previously earned £10 million a year from Tate-generated traffic. There is a clear ideological connection between Musk and Tate. Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook has argued for more masculine energy. What regulation is taking place? Why has the EU Digital Services Act not been brought into play to stop this hate and violent misogyny at source? Ireland is meant to be regulating this on behalf of the EU. Boys and men are finding the manosphere when they look for help on health and fitness. We need the Government to act and not just leave it up to parents to deal with this.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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One absolutely key area for giving young people a positive outlet for energies that might otherwise go in worrying or dangerous directions is sport. This also has a great deal of relevance in the context of women and of challenging all the misogyny that one can encounter. One of the positive developments we have seen in the past few years is the tremendous growth in participation in sport, by young people in general and by women in particular, which has been enormous and very positive, including boxing, soccer, Gaelic, rugby and all sorts of other ports. However, there is a chronic deficit of facilities and pitches to cater for this huge growth in participation in sport.

I will speak to my area, but I hear it is much the same everywhere else. I will give one positive example. After a 20-year fight, Monkstown Boxing Club, on behalf of which I campaigned for many years, in a disadvantaged area, finally opened its clubhouse this week. It was a 20-year fight. It has an Olympian this year, Jack Marley, and fantastic people such as Robin O'Reilly, a young woman who is competing at international European level, and many others. This is fantastic for young girls, women and men, but for years they were in totally inadequate facilities, with no showers and so on. They had to fight for 20 years. I am glad the council eventually got on board. It was a huge victory and shows the potential that exists.

I then look at Sallynoggin Pearse in the area where I live. This is a club that the legendary Paul McGrath began his career playing for. It has been fighting for almost as long, near enough 20 years, for a new facility. It was promised by the council that on giving up an oul' shack it had and a pitch on a public park that it would get a facility, but it is now being given the runaround. That club is partnering its senior team, which has been around since the fifties in Sallynoggin, with Granada's junior team, involving many young women in particular. It has a proposal for a new clubhouse but, to be honest, the council is giving it the runaround. It has been promised and promised. The club is willing to raise money itself and so on but there seems to be control-freakery and a negative attitude. St. Joseph's boys' team, which I used to play for, also in Sallynoggin, is fighting for an all-weather pitch and, again, is getting the runaround over it. Cuala, one of the most successful GAA clubs, is struggling for pitches. Dalkey United is struggling for pitches and facilities, as are teams in Shankill and Cabinteely. Cabinteely GAA has inadequate facilities for its club, as does Shankill FC and so on.

I appeal to the Minister of State to give an instruction for local authorities to positively engage with the clubs and not have a controlling or dismissive attitude to the provision of these vital facilities for youth participation in sport.

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I marvel at Deputy Boyd Barrett's success in naming all the clubs in his constituency. I will add Ranelagh Gaels, Clanna Gael, Templeogue and Synge Street to that list of clubs looking for pitches. In fairness, the point was well made. It is one most people in the House would agree with.

I will touch on three matters. The first is youth prevention. I am not talking about the diversion programme, when somebody is entered into that programme and a JLO is appointed. I am talking about avoiding young people engaging in criminality in the first place. The second issue I will talk about is the legislation, its operation and things that could be done to update it. The final matter I will touch on is the age of criminal responsibility.

There are some superb projects, outside of the diversion programme, that act in this area. The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, will be very familiar with the St. Andrew's Resource Centre in my constituency, which does extraordinary work to bring young people from south and north inner-city areas together. They work on projects together and are brought on trips together to try to de-escalate where conflicts have arisen, especially among young people, including antisocial behaviour and other types of crime. These are run by amazing people and youth workers. These need to be funded and to continue to be funded, but there is a lack of lessons being learned at a national level regarding what is taking place at local level and how successful programmes could be emulated in other parts of the country. That prevention side is something the Minister of State should carry out a review into.

The legislation is very clear. Young people are entered into the diversion programme if they admit criminal responsibility. For people under the age of 18, no matter what crime they have committed, their file will be referred to the director of the juvenile diversion programme. The director has to make a decision on whether to admit that child to the programme, but an absolute statutory must is the child must admit to the crime he or she is alleged to have committed. One of the challenges of the programme is that while the legislation, which has been in place for a lengthy period, provides for regulations whereby the Minister can exclude certain offences that would not be eligible for the programme, no Minister has ever excluded any offences. In the annual review, for every single year of the monitoring of the diversion programme, the reports of the various offences of the thousands of children who have been diverted into the programme can be seen, which include very serious crimes such as homicide and sexual offences. The Minister should carry out a review into whether now is the time for regulations to be initiated that would exclude certain offences.

It is not appropriate that the director of the juvenile diversion programme is vested with the responsibility of determining, in the case of a person who is 18 or under and has killed somebody, whether he or she should be admitted into the programme. It should be left to the Director of Public Prosecutions to decide whether that person should be prosecuted or not. At the very least, that situation should be excluded and the Minister should make regulations in that regard.

The final matter I will touch on is the age of criminal responsibility, which has been 12 in Ireland for a long time.

There were commissions that talked about raising this. I go back to my first point, namely that if you talk to the people who act in the area of youth diversion, the one thing they will say is that they are dealing with younger and younger children. The reality is that unless it is a criminal matter, there is only so much An Garda Síochána can do. Many community gardaí go around to parents and talk about antisocial behaviour orders and what might happen. However, if a child is under the age of 12, there is not much An Garda Síochána can do.

In the UK, the age of criminal responsibility is ten. I am not suggesting that this is the route we should go down. However, in conjunction with identifying and fully funding the type of programmes at local level that work in terms of getting people out of crime, we have to take a serious look, from an operational point of view, at how we can ensure An Garda Síochána can engage with children who are below the age of criminal responsibility but who are being used as drug mules in some cases or who are involved in pernicious and consistent antisocial behaviour and who know they will not face arrest or charges because they are underage.

These are the matters that require review and consideration. I have asked the Minister to examine all three.

Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Criminal Justice (Engagement of Children in Criminal Activity) Act 2024 makes it clear that grooming children into criminality is not just morally reprehensible, it is also illegal and punishable by law. This sends a strong message to gangs operating in Dublin and elsewhere that their days of hiding behind children with impunity are over. Just as we demand accountability, we are modernising how we monitor impact. Through strategic partnership with the University of Limerick and reforms to the Children Act under the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act, we are building a smarter, more effective youth justice system that ensures transparency, evidence and results. Let us be clear in saying that youth criminality is not inevitable. With the right investment, interventions and intent, it is preventable.

I agree with colleagues, especially on sport and youth diversions of all different types. Sport plays a huge role in this regard. I agree with my colleague that the council in our county has a lot of capital and that using some of it to fund recreational spaces would help enormously to facilitate the clubs he been mentioned. There is a huge growth in youth sport, but it needs to be supported by the council.

In Dublin, where urban pressures often heighten the risk, the role of these projects is even more critical and we are backing that support with serious funding. Since 2020, the budget for youth justice measures has risen from €18 million to €33 million in budget 2025. This is not just an increase in funding; it is a statement of intent. It says to every child, parent and community leader that we are on their side. These projects now extend beyond intervention. They reach out to children as young as eight. They engage families, schools, and harder to reach young people. We are also tackling the problem at the root.

I will make a brief comment about the Greentown Project, whose early impact has been described by front-line youth workers in Dublin as transformative. By disrupting the power of criminal networks and replacing coercion with connection, it is giving vulnerable children real alternatives.

We have also taken strong legislative action in this regard. I particularly welcome the inclusion of Ballyfermot and Cherry Orchard in the six pilot areas for the joint commissioning process, a collaborative approach that brings services together around the individual needs of at-risk children and their families. This is not a one-size-fits-all strategy. It is tailored, localised and grounded in the belief that with the right support, every child can choose the right path. In Ballyfermot and Cherry Orchard, as many of us in this Chamber know, the community has faced difficult and high-profile challenges, but it has also shown tremendous resilience. This Government has listened. Through increased Garda visibility, the expansion of youth services and the continued funding of local youth diversion programmes, we are supporting community-led solutions that foster hope and change.

Myriad supports exist for youth diversion, and that is welcome. Investment has increased, and that is also welcome. However, what is important in the context of this debate is that the Minister and Department listen to youth leaders and youth development workers on the ground who know the challenges that exist, particularly in some critical areas, when it comes to the need to focus and tailor programmes to ensure there is a response to the communities. Every community has different needs and it is also important for the Government to be able respond to those individual needs. As I mentioned in the context of sport, in some communities there is a need to invest in sport. For those harder to reach groups and children, it is also important that supports and youth diversion programmes are available, be they through An Garda or youth work as they are invaluable in that regard. I commend the work that is being done by the Minister and the Department.

I spoke about Ballyfermot and Cherry Orchard. They have been spoken about quite often in this Chamber, but it is worth noting that there has been a step change in the approach in those areas and that this is yielding a benefit, especially for young people. I welcome this discussion. It is important to have it, but the follow-up will be important too.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Before we move on, I note that we have some students in the Gallery and it may be of note to them that we are dealing with statements on diverting young people from criminal activity. They may be able to read it on the board. Just in case they cannot, I draw their attention to it. The debate was adjourned yesterday and we are continuing with it today. It is an interesting topic for them.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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This is a topic that really interests me so I have been listening to the debate. I sometimes I think I live in a parallel universe. I have listened to successive speakers on the Government side talking about things I absolutely agree with. I agree with everything people have mentioned, such as investment in youth services, prevention and making sure we do not get to the stage where we need to talk about diverting young people from criminal activity. It reminds me of when I worked in this field - for more than 20 years - and every one of the services they talked about from 2011 onwards were decimated. Some 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% of funding was cut. One project had 100% of its funding was cut. That is the low-hanging fruit when it comes to recession. The communities that most need it are the ones that are most devastated by cuts. Then we look at the situation and ask why and how we ended up here. The reason is that there was no investment in the areas to which other speakers have referred.

Things were working and were extremely successful. I worked in school completion. It is an amazing programme that works really well. Our project in Coolock suffered a 37% cut. Who can sustain that? Yet, we were asked to do the same thing every year and to try to provide support, which we did to the best of our ability.

With regard to what we are talking about today in the context of tariffs, economic shocks and certain things that are happening, I urge the Government not to do what was done the last time and not to cut services. I urge it to invest. Diverting young people is about investing in communities, sports, youth clubs and organisations that work directly with young people. It is about making sure that they have dedicated facilities. I will give an example. Dublin 15 has a population of more than 130,000 people. The most diverse and youngest population in the State does not have one dedicated youth facility. They are operating out of buildings, commercial premises, community centres and so on, but there is not one dedicated youth facility. I have worked in dedicated youth facilities that work. Sphere 17 in Darndale is a brilliant dedicated youth facility. Diverting young people is about investment and, as I said, it is about making sure that we not only divert young people from getting involved in criminal activity, we just do not allow it to happen. We cannot do it for everyone, but we can do our best try to prevent everyone else.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Dedicated youth centres work.

Anybody who has visited The Base in Ballyfermot will have seen the work carried out there and the example set. As Deputy Donnelly said, we cannot reach everybody, but we can try. We can try to ensure there is investment in those services, whether in Ballyfermot Youth Service or the likes of the Targeted Response with Youth, TRY, project that was operating in Donore Avenue. These are services reaching out to the hardest-to-reach young men and women running amok in communities. The idea is that the services focus on how to divert these young people away from criminal activity and from drugs and alcohol and the abuse of their abuse. It is not possible for the services to do this if they are looking over their shoulders all the time to see where the next cut is going to happen, which will mean the marginalised communities they are trying to help will be facing into another round of cuts where services will be cut and the best youth workers will be looking elsewhere for work because they will not be able to pay their own mortgages if their jobs are cut.

Let us look to the example of St. Ultan's school, what work it is doing and how it is reaching out to the community as a whole in a disadvantaged area. It is an example of how this activity can work if the investment is there and if there is continual investment. Only last week, I was at the opening of a playground at Labre Park. This is another example of my point. Labre Park has existed for more than 50 years, but the playground has only been built now. One of the most disadvantaged and marginalised communities in this city lives in Labre Park, yet the children there did not have a playground.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this very important subject. We have a major problem with youth crime and especially with child exploitation. There is a major issue with children being enticed into criminal activity by adults, especially in the drugs scene. Drug dealers are providing drugs to young people. Often, these are free in the first instance. Those young people and children then get hooked on drugs. They have no ability to pay for those drugs, so then they become drug runners doing the dirty work on the ground for drug dealers. This is a major issue and it constitutes child trafficking. We know that children in State care, in particular, are extremely vulnerable due to their own family situations and, of course, the shortcomings in State agencies. It is unthinkable that the Government brought in legislation last year to reduce the sentencing for adults who entice young people into drugs and criminality.

On the topic of drugs, there is a major problem right across this country, including in my constituency of Mayo, in relation to the drug dealers harassing young people for drug debts. Any of those young people cannot pay the drug debts. Many emigrate or leave their areas. Drug dealers then harass their parents and grandparents. I know of a family in County Mayo where an aunt and uncle have been harassed by drug dealers. We need to get to grips with this issue. We need tougher sentencing for drug dealers who seek to recoup debts from the families of the children, grandchildren and nieces and nephews involved. It is shocking that many families are living in fear. I know of some cases where farm equipment was stolen to pay for such debt. We need tougher sentencing on a whole raft of issues, but especially concerning the drug issue. Most especially, we need them for drug dealers and adults who use children as pawns to do their dirty work. It is happening on an organised basis. We all know it and we need to get to grips with it. What is the future for these young people we see in gangs around shopfronts doing dirty work acting as runners for drug dealers? What is their life expectancy? If we do not tackle this issue, we will create another generation of young people, young adults, who will be forever in the criminal justice system.

Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
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The foundation of my political career lies in my beginnings within the voluntary community sector. I firmly believe everybody should engage with their communities in some capacity. Recently, I addressed the pressing issue of the lack of gardaí in rural Ireland. We have witnessed the closure of Garda stations without replacements. This has led to a decline in the sense of safety that once prevailed in the past. If people had an issue, they could visit their local Garda station where they would know the gardaí and they would know you and your family. This connectivity between the community and the Garda was always invaluable and should have been continued. We have had some exceptional gardaí in west Cork. I often mention their names here, such as Garda Jonathan McCarthy. I do this because he lives in the same community in which he works in Ballydehob. It is greatly important to the people of the Mizen Peninsula to have a garda living in the Garda station there. His family are there too. It is a great service to the local community. Damian White is another garda who comes to mind. He works with the youth. We have the An Garda Síochána Youth Awards.

The point I am trying to make is that not all young people are bad. An incredible number of great young people are out there. They have a great deal to offer and we need to squeeze that potential out of them. The only way we can do that is through the An Garda Síochána Youth Awards at divisional and national level to celebrate outstanding young people aged between 13 and 21 by recognising the positive contributions they make to their communities. The first Garda divisional youth awards were established by a local juvenile liaison officer in west Cork in 1995. He recognised the tremendous efforts of young people in the community that deserved acknowledgement. Since then, the awards have grown significantly. We have some great young people and we should not always be down on them. I recently met one such lad at a St. Patrick's Day parade in Skibbereen, a 15-year-old kickboxing world champion named Evan Collins. There are many more great young people in this country and we must ensure they are involved in the community. We must give them something to do and encourage them to get involved. Independent Ireland advocates for increased Garda funding, housing support and recruitment initiatives. We also believe that repeat offenders should face appropriate consequences for their actions. Furthermore, we hold that non-citizens who commit serious crimes should be deported immediately. Applicants with violent or sexual convictions should not be allowed entry into our country. I mentioned quite a few young people. One young man in west Cork who has done quite a lot and whose work has probably gone unnoticed is Aidan Burke. He is a kind of a rap musician. I met him recently. He put together a song for young people who have mental health problems. He needs to be recognised. This is what we need to do. We must recognise the good young people out there.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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This is an important matter to speak on. One of the marvellous things about our jobs as elected Members of this House is that we engage with the community on so many different levels and we see such fantastic young people and organisations giving back to society. They are led by many community leaders. Some of them have gone on to become members of their local councils and Members of this House too. Many come from community backgrounds, a bit like Deputy Collins I think. He started off with perhaps about 30 organisations and this grew to approximately 120 organisations by the time he entered this House. I refer to giving back to communities. We see some tremendous people out there. We also see, however, that an awful lot of work now goes into setting up youth organisations, from drama to any sports. The amount of company regulation and paperwork it is necessary to go through is extremely cumbersome for many organisations. We talk in this House about getting people involved in sports, dramas, new types of clubs and new types of energy, and occupying them. Looking at the Icelandic model, which brought down antisocial behaviour from about 40% to approximately 3%, it was about engagement. It is about taking away boredom and giving people opportunities to do something after hours after school.

My colleague, Deputy Paul Lawless, mentioned the drug epidemic. It has not escaped Cork either. We have a situation in Cork where children as young as eight are being used as drug mules. Children as young as eight are knocking on doors and threatening people because they cannot be prosecuted. They are getting a couple of bags of sweets or a can of Coke after as their reward for threatening Mary and telling her they are going to burn out her car. This is what is going on in parts of this country. It is happening not just in Cork but also in Mayo, Dublin and everywhere.

It is about time we stopped wringing our hands in here. There are Members of this House on the left side who almost have an idea of hug a thug and everything will be alright, and we will give them an antisocial behaviour order, ASBO, and it is all because "God, they came from a tough background". We have to make parents responsible as well, and there has to be a financial repercussion for parents whose children are involved in criminal activity and cause criminal damages. I am sick to death of going to community meetings and hearing "It is not my Johnny" or "It is not my Mary" and looking at photographs of them. I had a mother tell me, "I only dropped them to the cemetery because they were only having a couple of cans". That is antisocial behaviour. That is giving a child alcohol. That is unacceptable. We need to have the powers in this State for the Garda to prosecute parents who are indulging their children in antisocial behaviour and activity.

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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It is good to have the opportunity to speak on this issue. To be quite honest, I would love an hour, no more than anyone else would.

To put it in the optimistic point of view, Central Statistics Office, CSO, information from 2022 suggests that only 2.3% of young people aged 12 to 17 were referred to the Garda youth diversion programme. Obviously, there were activities that did not get to that level and that were undetected and so on, but it shows that the vast majority of our young people are model citizens, and that has to be remembered. We also have to remember that many of the victims of assaults by young people are actually young people themselves. In fact, a young constituent today told me that, when he was 15 and with his friend in Palmerstown, he was hopped on by a bunch of 15 guys from wherever. They escaped and got on the bus. There were no gardaí around. Nothing ever happened. It was just a random attack. We have these one-punch attacks on young men quite often. Other Deputies have mentioned this, and we had a debate on the issue of gender-based violence and the toxic masculinity that is being promoted. That is something that obviously has to be addressed too. However, let us look at what is causing the issues of young people getting involved in crime.

Disadvantage is key indicator number one alongside peer pressure, gang influence, lack of positive role models, educational disengagement, substance abuse and the related drug debt that some of my colleagues mentioned, and issues like mental health, family breakdown and general neglect. At the same time, however, irrespective of what the causes are, there also need to be consequences for poor behaviour. I do not believe we have those types of consequences for people getting involved in activities under the age of 18 to act as a deterrent and equally, as Deputy O'Flynn mentioned, consequences for the parents involved.

We need to take a positive approach, however. Early years investment is a key factor. I met a primary teacher who told me she could identify someone getting involved in criminal activity by junior infants just by the background situation and the issues involved. That is a sad reflection on our society. It is, therefore, good to see that we have this roll-out of the diversion programmes. I note the Minister's announcement recently as well. Years ago, though, people used to be able to bring their friends along. It was a more interesting project for the young person who was going. Due to cutbacks, though, it became just the person himself or herself. It kind of stigmatised people to a degree whereas we are trying to keep them from getting involved in the first place. We need to look at this from an holistic point of view. As I said, I would love to talk about it much longer, but it is about issues of leadership and support in the community and more investment in sports, as others have said. They all make contributions.

On the whole, our young people are good, and they need to be encouraged. Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy. We will move to a Government slot, beginning with Deputy Brabazon.

Tom Brabazon (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on this issue. I have a lot of sympathy for what many of the speakers said, in particular the contribution Deputy O'Flynn made today. There is a lot of youth crime, certainly in the constituency I represent. There are young lads going around on scramblers and e-bikes, masked up so their identities cannot be known. They are effectively untouchable; they are above the law because they are not being chased by An Garda Síochána. When they are pursued, they are viewed as being too young to be prosecuted, notwithstanding the fact that they are behaving like adults and are causing major disruption to local communities, certainly in the area I represent. I could tell stories to keep the Minister of State here for several hours about the effect this horrendous behaviour has on communities.

I would not be a big fan of Tony Blair's, but we have to look at crime from two perspectives. We have to be tough on crime - I am all for that - but we equally have to be tough on the causes of crime. It is clear that when I look across my constituency at the hot spots where we have high figures of youth offending, these are certain areas that have been neglected for long numbers of years. In some of those areas where serious investment has been put in over the years, though, we still have that behaviour, so it is not all about investing. It is a combination of investment and supporting sports clubs, youth clubs, drama groups, art, you name it, but anything that gets kids together so they can enjoy one another's company and not feel like they are under constant peer pressure.

We have to consider influences. I believe it was Deputy Gogarty who mentioned role models. Many of the role models people are seeing now are online, including TikTok, and some of the behaviours we are seeing involve children in groups going out and assaulting other children and adults. This is happening for the purpose of making TikTok videos and so on.

Youth diversion is one part of a whole jigsaw of approaches we need to make. We certainly need to be tough on the causes of crime, but we equally need to be very tough on the crime itself.

Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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If we are going to have a debate about the diversion of young people from criminal activity, then we have to look at the whole picture of youth work and youth services. It is an entirely lopsided system if youth services only kick in for the vast majority of young people when something goes wrong and criminal behaviour is involved, especially when it has been well established that youth work is an effective form of prevention and early intervention, as well as a means of cultivating a multitude of positive outcomes for young people. Unfortunately, a lopsided system has been allowed to emerge. As well as investment in justice-driven youth investment projects, we need wholesale investment in universal youth services, including capital works.

As to why, let us look at the numbers. Figures for the years 2019 to 2023 show funding for our 23 Dublin Garda youth diversion projects increased by a massive 143%, but the number of participants only increased by 11%. Funding stood at €5.18 million in 2019 and increased to €12.6 million in 2023, but the number of participants increased from 1,092 to just 1,212. These are figures that I received from the Department of Justice last year, and I have asked for 2024 figures. Questions must, therefore, be asked about value for money where there is spiralling funding but a diminishing return. Youth diversion is work intensive, requiring direct engagement with participants to make it a success. That goes some way to explaining the imbalance, but a factor that cannot be overlooked is the feedback from youth workers on the ground in the greater Blanchardstown area when they say they have never felt more under pressure. I believe this is because they are propping up the entire youth services system when they should be concentrating on targeted youth services.

Persistent low-level crimes is becoming a major issue on suburban Dublin communities. This does not just include youth crime. This includes theft, open drug dealing, antisocial behaviour, increased knife crime and the threat and consequences of involvement in gangland crime as well as a corresponding perceived lack of consequences for youth offenders. Communities want this low-level crime to be tackled before it becomes normalised. As policymakers, we must ensure the public have confidence in our youth diversion strategy because it does work.

I believe some issues need to be addressed. For the third time since I have become a Teachta Dála, I am raising the Garda numbers in the K district versus other districts in the Dublin metropolitan region. The difference could be as high as one garda for every 531 people in the K district versus one garda for 397 people in a neighbouring district.

That district also has 40% lower crime statistics than the K district. Out of the 150 new recruits in March, only four went to the K district. The district is potentially the busiest policing district in the country and it cannot afford to continue to lose out to the city centre and other areas.

In 2023, The Wheel found overall investment in our youth work sector was down 16% compared to 2008 , with a shortfall of 15 million. Since 2008, however, our needs and population have exploded. We require a major step change in youth policy far beyond targeted youth services and diversion programmes. We need after-school facilities and youth clubs which should be opened in every community, supporting children, young people and families. This is achievable. We need our youth workers and volunteers from organisations like Foróige and YMCA to do what they do best, as well as interventions where they are required and where there already is an ecosystem and community of services.

We need local community safety partnerships up and running, bringing together the local stakeholders, such as youth workers, juvenile liaison officers, the HSE, community groups, residents and businesses so that we may have local community safety strategies for the community by the community, including our youth.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Before I call Deputy Ó Muirí, I first welcome some visitors from County Wexford in the Visitors Gallery. We have Louise Byrne who is very used to youth work, and her brother Jude, who are here with their granny from County Mayo. They are very welcome and I hope they find this debate on how we can divert young people from criminal activity very interesting.

Naoise Ó Muirí (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I want to raise youth facilities. Deputy Currie mentioned all the important facilities we need to make available, including youth cafes, youth clubs, skate parks, music clubs and astro pitches. These are the best ways to divert younger people, get them engaged and keep them involved in the community. In our area, there was a fabulous plan 20 years ago to build many community facilities into the north fringe but then the crash came along and all the building activity stopped. It has recently started up again but there is absolutely no plan, with the exception of a small element to be done by the city council, to comprehensively build community facilities there before it is too late and the population density gets too large and all those children get older.

I have a couple of issues to mention. The first is that there is a lot of social housing, AHB, development happening at present but as I understand it, they are exempt from section 48 development levies. The very tool a local authority like the city council or others would use to fund the installation of community facilities upfront is not available to them. The Government needs to try to fix that. Equally, I recall visiting a couple of projects a few years ago in our area and URDF funding where Dublin communities were effectively locked out of this funding. It was not available to Dublin communities. The only way we could do a particular project at the time seemed to be through the sports capital programme - which, by the way, is very welcome and it is vital that we keep those sports capital grant calls coming - or an active travel programme and this did not fit into the active travel model. It was not active travel; it was a place in the community we wanted to renew. Those community facilities are really practical and important; we just need capital and money to build them upfront rather than at the end.

The LDA is getting involved in the north fringe in Clongriffin and again, I am hoping to meet agency officials, as I am sure others will. It is so important the LDA, as a State agency, is building and planning those community facilities upfront for the north fringe, Clongriffin and all those areas.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Before I move on - they may have left - I welcome Edna Craig, Maggie Kiernan and Emer Murray. We now move to Sinn Féin and begin with Deputy Devine.

Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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To quote a wise man I know, “Inequality is our Trojan horse.”

Adolescents in our inner cities face harrowing challenges in their environments due to inequality and disadvantage brought on by neglect. The term "age-friendly cities" must be expanded to include adolescents in particular, who presently have no input into the amenities and features of their surroundings in their public realm and are often left with little to no safe activities to avoid falling into troublesome behaviour, which then forms their adulthood. Most of these kids are good. They are not all angels but who was when we were growing up? Their experience as a result of socioeconomic factors and being alienated by poverty has corrupted their childhood and we know childhood lasts a lifetime.

Many of the antisocial behaviour reports I receive in Dublin South Central concern young people in Pimlico, Weaver Square, the Liberties, and Inchicore. Last Halloween, a group of young people hoarded wooden pallets and tyres intended for a bonfire. Some burnt the pitch in Michael Mallin House, the only one we have. Some of the kids involved contacted me via social media and I engaged with them openly and honestly. They apologised for the pitch damage they had caused and said, “MIssue, we didn’t think of it as destroying community property; there is just f-all for us to do here.” They are not malicious; they look to provide for themselves as there is no community centre in the area. Donore Community Centre and Notre Dame in Paris both burnt down at the same time five years ago, but guess which one still remains closed?

There is practically nothing these kids can do to help gain perspective on how they fit into their community and therefore they feel no ownership or care for it. Their homes are literally moulding and falling down around them. When we do not look after their environment, it is a small wonder they do not feel inclined to either.

A multiagency approach is needed. Yes, we need more gardaí, visibility, accountability and responsibility but we cannot police ourselves out of this problem created by austerity and deliberate neglect of our working-class communities. An holistic approach must be taken to engage young people on terms they understand. These kids bear the brunt of inequality and our task is to level the pitch.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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Ar dtús, ba mhaith liom beagáinín a rá mar gheall ar Mick O'Dwyer.

Mick O'Dwyer was like a god when I was growing up in County Kerry; he was the greatest of all time. He was so famous that I thought for many years the anti-internment song, "The Men Behind the Wire", was about the Kerry football team. Lots will be said about how he transformed Kerry football and won eight all-Ireland medals, but after being an outstanding minor, he won four all-Ireland medals and had a very long playing career. He is still, as I understand it, the highest scoring Kerry forward in national league history. He also managed Railway Cup teams and the under-21 team. Déanaim comhbhrón ó chroí le John, Karl agus Robbie, lena ghaolta, lena chlann go léir agus lena chairde uile.

GAA and other sporting bodies are the best diversion away from criminal activity. There have been recent meetings in the Department of Justice on following penal reform recommendations. The Irish Penal Reform Trust report in 2014 stated youth diversion projects should be extended to the age of 24 and I hope this will be progressed by the Department. Ireland has the third highest recidivism rate in Europe and recidivism must be attacked. Young people are most likely to change and I have seen it many times over the years. One inspector told me once about a young fella he was convinced would kill someone at some stage. However, work was done with him and he has not been in trouble for years and is a good, upstanding member of the community. The interventions have to be made in education, employment, housing and health. There also has to be some sort of restorative approach that can be of great benefit in turning lives around.

There is currently a pilot in-court accompanying project in conjunction with the University of Limerick. Some 33% of people who attend the Kerry community youth diversion service in the Kerry diocese and Kerry community youth service have a neurodiversity issue, which may not be diagnosed in some cases; either they are not taking medication or there is no proper support.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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However, with disability service improvements, properly resourced occupational therapy, assessments and mental health-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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-----that can be addressed. We were in Mountjoy Prison last week. The prison governor was saying exactly the same thing about people who have issues such as that.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I reiterate all of our sympathies in regard to Mick O'Dwyer's family. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

Gillian Toole (Meath East, Independent)
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Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. Is fíor an seanfhocal sin. I commend and thank the youth diversion project teams, particularly in County Meath, and juvenile liaison officers Garda Barbara Kelly and Garda Aisling Connor in Meath north and Meath south, who are doing fantastic work. I also commend the probation service officers, Louth Meath Education and Training Board, public representatives and the young people themselves who engage. We are grateful for the investment and increased funding in County Meath received towards the end of last year. However, the common thread in the room is that more resources are necessary. It is not necessarily the big ticket items; it is funding towards buses, tickets to the cinema, hiring astroturf, hiring sports halls, activity centres and yes, it is the increase in Garda resources and the wraparound services. As has been said, this is about the mental health supports, the youth workers themselves, drug awareness programmes and the Comhairle na n-Óg programme through the local authorities as well. I learned today at an excellent briefing in the audiovisual room on a publication by Trinity College Dublin about untreated ADHD and the risk factors with substance misuse and then following on from that the likelihood of engaging in crime. These are the themes we have discussed this week regarding the overlap with special education provision, family resource services, special community employment schemes. That is the common thread here whereby we must have inter- and intra-government and State and semi-State agencies working together because ultimately, mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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I also add my voice to the condolences for the great legend, Mick O'Dwyer, and offer my sympathies to his family and the GAA community. The GAA community does so much, as do rugby, soccer, boxing and all the different sports, to divert young people away from harmful behaviour. In my area we are lucky that the diocese of Waterford and Lismore provides a youth service that covers much of south Tipperary, and indeed the Cashel and Emly diocese does great work in youth services and is building in Tipperary town on the main street. Of course Comhairle na nÓg is active as well. I compliment all involved there especially a friend of mine, Joe Higgins, in Elm Park, Clonmel who is doing great work in the community. It is important, as Deputy Toole said, mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. I believe that is a profound seanfhocal. We must do that because the carrot is better than the stick. Praise the young people because they are great. They have such pressures today that we never had, such as the Internet and mobile phones and rudaí mar sin.

I give thanks to the youth liaison officers. We do not have enough of them and they are pulled away from their duties because of traffic duties. There are two wonderful gardaí in my area, Garda John Walsh and Garda Philip Ryan who are both off work long term due to vicious assaults against both of them. They are fine officers. It is a pity because they have the ear and the confidence of the community. As a parish priest once said, if you want to fill the churches, you must stand in the kitchens of the houses. It is important to have gardaí on the ground. When my kids were small, gardaí used to visit the national schools. I do not now whether they do that anymore. It is very important they should have a relationship with gardaí before they get into trouble and go down a slippery slope. I thank my GAA club in Newcastle, Caisleán Nua, for the tremendous work it does, and all the GAA clubs and all sporting clubs. I have to single out Clonmel Boxing Club, Martin Fennessy and the team there, including Shauna O'Keeffe. There are many great young people in sport and boxing with great achievements. They do great work.

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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When we talk about crime and antisocial behaviour among young people, we often focus on the consequences but we need to ask what is causing it in the first place. It reminds me of a story I heard at an event by Peter McVerry. It is a story I come back to which goes, if you see people floating down a river, you jump in and rescue them. Then you see another person floating down, and you jump in and rescue them. Then you see another and eventually you ask yourself, "Where are they coming from and how are they falling into the river?" You walk up the stream and find the source of the problem. That is what we need to do with our youth. We need to stop pulling people out of the river and go up the stream to fix the reason they are falling in and getting involved in crime.

Recently I asked the Minister for Justice about the number of young people referred to the Garda youth diversion programme. In 2022, there were 8,434. However, in 2023 that number dropped by 7%. That is fewer children being prevented from falling into the river and engaging with the Garda, giving them the alternative to crime. We need to support the Garda and give it more resources for encouraging community engagement.

What I have been seeing and hearing from the meetings I have been having is that young people are being pulled into violence at a younger age than ever. They are organising fights on Snapchat, WhatsApp, TiKTok, sharing videos online of bullying. These are 13- and 14-year-old children crying out for structure that they are not getting. If they are not getting it at home, they need to get it through the youth diversion programme, youth clubs and sports clubs.

Social media are warping developing minds and with adolescents, tá sé i mbéal an phobail faoi láthair. It is addictive, damaging and corrosive, especially for kids of that age when their identity is being formed. We are social beings and we are always looking to fit in. I am 26 and I saw it creep in when I was 13 or 14 but it has only become worse. These multinationals have designed this to be as addictive as possible. We all see it ourselves. I can barely walk down the street without whipping out my phone.

We need to be bold enough to act. The Australian Government is leading the way on banning social media for under-16s. We should look into alternatives. This is not about censorship; this is about protection and giving parents an alternative. If we want people to be prevented from going into crime, we need to give them alternatives.

I would love to talk about a particular incident in Dublin Bay North where we need to have the options for children to have something else to do. That is what it is. They do not have anything else to do. Kilmore Celtic football club lacks basic amenities. There is no water, no electricity, children have to get changed in the bushes and go across the road to use other people's toilets. We are not giving the children an alternative to getting involved in crime or standing on street corners. Please therefore, can we go up the river? Give more investment to youth clubs and sports clubs in north Dublin. If we are not going to do that and have the courage to walk up we are not going to solve this. Can we look into Kilmore Celtic and all the community centres and sports clubs in north Dublin and give them the facilities they need?

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputies for the opportunity to discuss efforts to divert young people from criminal offences and criminal activities. This is an issue of fundamental importance. It is very clear from the contributions both today and yesterday that this issue moves and impassions many Deputies across the House. All of us will agree that we must continue to provide opportunities for young people to contribute to society in a productive and meaningful way. This will benefit both the well-being of our young people as well as society in the overall context. The variety of contributions from Deputies not only shows the passion there is for this area but that they also had expertise and experiences themselves before they entered and indeed have gained some since entering the House. We have heard from now-elected TDs who are legal experts, who were involved in various football clubs and GAA clubs and who worked previously in home-school liaison services as youth workers and social workers. It is really useful for us to have that level of expertise in this House, for it to be shared on the floor of the Dáil and for it to be used to help to shape our strategies.

Those of us who contributed to this debate did so with the very best motives. We all have that shared interest. It makes it clear that we need a whole-of-government approach. Things like sports clubs, youth cafes, education and social media all fall under the remit of different Departments, which is why the whole-of-government approach is so important. We must be mindful of the fact that a multifaceted and agile approach is needed to support young people who may come to rely on the State for help. Of course, diverting young people away from crime is vital. However, it is important to address what the State can do when individuals do engage in criminal activity and are detected by An Garda Siochána. That is why we must continue to deliver restorative justice. This was mentioned a number of times today and yesterday.

At its core, restorative justice aims to enable all those affected by an offence to participate in repairing the harm done and to find a positive way forward. The Probation Service delivers restorative justice directly and through several community-based organisations that receive referrals at specific points in the criminal justice process. The service currently provides funding to five community-based organisations to provide dedicated restorative justice programmes. In Budget 2025, the Probation Service received an additional €4 million aimed at expanding crime diversion programmes. Its total budget is now over €60 million. This money supports step-down facilities, restorative justice and community-based alternatives to imprisonment. These are all part of where that money is being spent. The Minister intends to set out a roadmap with a view to increasing the uptake and availability of community service orders, which will further contribute to the provision of non-custodial sanctions.

In devising our approach to diversion, we must remember that no two young people are the same so the services we provide must be tailored to different needs. That is why a core principle of the Youth Justice Strategy 2021-2027 involves embedding a multidisciplinary approach. The Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, opened this debate by outlining some of the work being done to progress the youth justice strategy. I will not repeat what he said, but I will discuss the strategy more generally to highlight the Government’s vision of youth justice.

The Youth Justice Strategy 2021-2027 provides a framework to address key ongoing challenges as well as new and emerging issues in the youth justice area. The focus of the strategy is very much on children in contact with the justice system but it also examines more closely why a proportion of young offenders go on to become adult offenders and how this can be better addressed. The strategy examines how youth justice policy might be more closely aligned to other child and youth policies and towards the promotion of community and local development. This approach echoes the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act, which the Minister commenced this week. It is important to understand how the strategy is being delivered so that we can change our approach if needed. This is especially the case given the strategy is now at its mid point. It is the perfect time to have this debate and see what feedback can be taken on board. I understand that feedback has been sought from all stakeholders on what has worked well so far and on future priorities for the strategy’s implementation. Once this feedback is received and evaluated, we will ensure that the strategy is as responsive and adaptable as can be to meet the needs of young people across the country.

I commend the great work done by youth diversion projects, YDPs, around the country. YDPs are critical to how we connect with young people. Youth workers attached to YDPs can and do change lives every day across the country. The impact they have on young people cannot be overstated, and I am sure every Deputy is aware of the great work done by youth workers in their constituencies. It was great to hear people place on the record some really positive experiences regarding youth workers and community gardaí and the success of youth development projects in their constituencies. In 2023, an evaluation of youth development projects was published. This evaluation confirms the vital role youth workers play in bringing the youth justice strategy to life. This evaluation acknowledged a great many positives, including a strong alignment between the youth justice policy and the objectives of individual YDPs. The people working in YDPs were found to be experienced and highly qualified. They reported strong levels of satisfaction in their work. This is brilliant because their work is so important. Key relationships such as those between youth justice workers and juvenile liaison officers are strong across the board and it is positive to see this being the case. The report also found that the range of interventions offered by YDPs continues to be responsive to the diverse and complex needs of individuals, their families and local communities.

In short, we know that diversion works. The Minister of State, Deputy Collins, provided statistics that back this up, but we have also heard and know in our own constituencies about the lived experience of people who avail of these services and go down different paths as a result. I encourage all Deputies to continue to support their local YDPs and youth workers. The Government will be resolute in its support of YDPs. Two new YDPs have been commissioned in east Clare and north Tipperary. When these projects are fully open, which should be by the end of this year, we will have achieved full nationwide coverage of our youth diversion programme. This means that any child in the country who needs to avail of these services will be able to do so. This expansion has occurred in the context of and has been enabled by, substantial funding increases. Deputy Currie alluded to that earlier. Youth services were allocated €18 million in 2020. Since then, the amount has doubled. It was allocated just over €36 million in Budget 2025.

As well as increasing the footprint of YDPs around the country, this funding is increasing opportunities to access services. Making use of the increased funding, services can open at weekends and late at night. This was a recommendation not just of the YDPs but feedback from those accessing the services.

We all want our communities to be safe places that provide young people with avenues to realise their potential. Youth justice interventions contribute to this environment. Youth justice is not a way around punishment or consequences. It is about redirecting that young people who may stray from the proper path. Most young people simply need support and direction to put their lives on the right track. We know that young people can make better life decisions when given the chance. I strongly believe that improving outcomes for young people at risk of a life of criminality can make a real and long-term difference to the quality of life of these young people, their families and the entire community.

We know that diversion is working. We know how to make improvements in the system and we will invest in those improvements. This Government, through the ongoing work of Minister and Minister of State, Deputy Collins, will resource and support interventions designed to improve the lives of our young people. I look forward to the continued implementation of the youth justice strategy, seeing that feedback we all had here brought to life and the development of a subsequent strategy to build on the successes we have already achieved.

Deputy Coppinger said that parents and teachers are no match for social media companies. That is an interesting point. She went on to talk about that culture of toxic masculinity that, thankfully, is predominantly online and that we know is being spearheaded by particular individuals. She sought a response in terms of an education campaign for that. That is a very worthwhile suggestion. I will take it back to the relevant Minister.