Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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8. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the action taken by his Department to monitor the progress of young people who leave the youth diversion programme after their supervision period ends; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36372/25]

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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Our Youth Justice Strategy 2021-2027 is a whole-of-government plan that takes a strategic approach to all issues connected to children and young people at risk of coming into contact with the criminal justice system. The key principles of the strategy are linked to the standards endorsed by the international community to uphold children's rights and include early intervention and preventative work, family support, diversion from crime, court processes and facilities, supervision of offenders, detention and reintegration, and support post release.

Youth diversion projects are community-based, multi-agency youth crime prevention initiatives which divert young people who have been, or are at risk of becoming, involved in antisocial and-or criminal behaviour. When a young person's time with a youth diversion project is coming to an end, whether they age out naturally at 18 or are no longer in need of specific youth diversion project supports, a plan is put in place to assist the young person to progress from the project. This process should be commenced well in advance of a person's planned disengagement. For all participants exiting a project, the youth diversion projects should identify other services that could engage the young person; identify specific agency support that may be needed by the young person; make contact with that service provider on behalf of the young person; prepare the young person for leaving the project; and follow up periodically on the progression of the young person after leaving the project and record any relevant details sent annually to the Department for reporting purposes.

The diversion programme has proved to be very successful in diverting young people under 18 away from crime by offering guidance and support to them and their families. It is important that we consider the supports and interventions needed for young people as they move into adulthood because personal circumstances do not just change overnight when someone turns 18.

Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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I come from an area where I was involved in a youth project where young people would have dropped out of school. That is where the problems start arising. We worked very closely with the Garda where we had the young people on a training programme. The people we took in were over 15. It is important to note that in a lot of these cases there is no family support. This is what I am saying to the Minister of State about the youth diversion programme. When someone finishes with the programme, that family support may still not be there. I wonder about the checks and balances that are there and about review of the current scheme. For instance, we did a review of the operation. We had 50 young people in training at any one time. We did a review and looked at the people who were with us five years earlier. This was at a time when unemployment was high, but we found that 70% of them had full-time employment whereas the family history would not have been great as regards employment. It just goes to show that where proper supports are put in place it does work. Has there been any review of the programme over recent years?

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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I am grateful for the Deputy's insight and his sharing his experiences. If he has any suggestions, we will absolutely take them on board because we are always open to taking on board new and positive suggestions as regards updating or amending our strategy in this regard. I commented on our youth diversion projects but I want to comment on our plans to extend youth diversion programmes to people once they pass the age of 18. Our strategy includes actions to develop diversion-based responses for young adults aged 18 to 24. It should be noted that we are not seeking to replicate the statutory Garda youth diversion programme for the 18-to-24-year-old cohort because different considerations apply in the case of young adults, as the Deputy will be aware. Research tells us that young adults, not unlike adolescents, can be particularly vulnerable to peer pressure and difficult personal, social or economic factors, including substance misuse and the impact of childhood trauma.

Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply. The work being done by all those people involved in the youth diversion programme is fantastic. They work very hard, also liaising with the Garda. That is what I have found in my experience of working with the local gardaí as regards trying to help people who have dropped out of the education system. One of the problems you find with the youth diversion programme is that one of the reasons people end up in difficulty is as a result of falling out of the education system at a very early stage. Then we try to get them back into any kind of training. For instance, one of the big problems we found with people was difficulty with even literacy and numeracy and making sure there was training available for them. They are afraid of applying for jobs because they have a literacy problem. That is one of the problems. They are afraid of applying for any kind of apprenticeship or any kind of job because those skills are required. Will the Minister of State look at that issue as well?

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for that. He has a particular interest as regards Cork. We have seen an increase in funding since 2022 and, specifically, an overall increase in funding for the Cork youth diversion projects in the order of €1.8 million. I have here a statement in tabular format detailing the increase in funding which I will have our officials forward on to the Deputy afterwards. He is right, and that increase in funding should and does alleviate the types of issues he has raised in terms of numeracy and literacy.