Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister, Deputy McDowell, to the House and I am delighted to speak about the issue of crime. I appreciate the Minister's acknowledgement that the measures he proposes represent the tip of the iceberg in relation to targeted responses to crime. I welcome these reactive measures, however, as they are necessary. A long-term crime strategy should include an examination of the perpetrators of crime. Many criminals do not have a sense of belonging; they do not feel that they belong to a particular group. They do not share an ethos of responsibility and they have become disenfranchised from society through no fault of their own. The fact that they feel they do not belong to a structured group is related to changes in society over recent years.

I worked on a youth project in Letterkenny for two years. I met the Minister in Ballybofey recently and I urge him to contact the Garda Síochána in Letterkenny the next time he is in County Donegal to ask for statistics about the Glenwood Park estate. A youth group, funded by a grant from the peace and reconciliation fund, was established to work with young people in the estate when it was known by a different name. I was employed as a youth worker there for two years from 1997. The people of the estate were labelled trouble makers and were seen as being constantly involved in crime. Young people on the estate were viewed as beyond the law and the rigours of society. My task was to establish homework clubs, to involve children in football and other sports, to get parents involved and, generally speaking, to engage the people of the estate in tasks to build up a team spirit. I was there for two years and another youth worker is employed there at present.