Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)

I welcome this debate, particularly the views expressed by Senator McDonald. Other speakers have pointed to efforts to curb crime through legislation. Instead, I intend to focus on the roots of crime. These types of crimes happen for a reason. We have seen young teenagers shooting people dead on the streets. In the United Kingdom, a teenager was convicted in recent days of the murder of Rhys Jones. This corresponds to the alleged involvement of a young teenager in the awful murder of Aidan O'Kane.

The children who perpetrate these crimes have been known to the authorities for a long time. They are out of control and identified as at risk. These types of problems manifest themselves at an early stage within the education system. I spent 20 years in that system before becoming a Member of this House. In the mid-1990s, the then president of the Irish National Teachers Organisation, Ms Sally Shields, spoke about identifying children at risk. Teachers can recognise such children from an early age and are aware of the circumstances of their home environment. They are not being targeted and helped. Such support would be to the good of society in general as well as helping the children themselves.

There must be an interdepartmental effort to deal with the causes and roots of crime, led by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Department of Education and Science. There must be engagement with youth groups in an effort to provide alternatives for young people and to keep them off the streets. In other words, we must save them from themselves.

Some weeks ago, I visited the schools in the area of Liverpool where Rhys Jones lived. The problems that are evident there are also evident in the East Wall and in other socially disadvantaged areas in the State. The reality is that some parents are incapable of parenting, with many of them unable to control their aggressive behaviour towards their children and others. There is also a small minority of parents who do not want to parent and who allow their children to run wild. It is time to give up on such parents. These are harsh words, but when school principals and management boards blame parents, it is often a cop-out on the part of the schools. We know in our heart that such parents will not intervene.

I have done a considerable amount of research into the issue of underachievement by pupils in disadvantaged areas. The most remarkable aspect of this is the evidence of great intentions but lack of consistency by parents. They are available to the children only at certain times. We are fooling ourselves that we can rely on these people to parent and keep their children off the street and out of trouble. The only way to ensure a better future for these children is to put in place adequate supports and resources in schools.

One such resource, which has been cut back in the budget, is the provision of home-school liaison teachers. Those teachers have an opportunity to see and record the difficulties being experienced by these children in their homes. The entitlement to the appointment of one of these teachers was removed in the budget for schools other than those designated as disadvantaged under the delivering equality of opportunity in schools, DEIS, programme. It is vital to recognise that there are disadvantaged children in every school, even where those schools are in middle class areas. Such children will now be deprived of this resource. I appeal to the Minister of State to ensure the right supports are in place in all schools.

An usher told me earlier today that children who are in difficulty can be recognised at an early age through their involvement in sport. Many of the children who are at risk of being bred into crime have great talents and gifts, but they need special help to realise their potential. Above all, they need an alternative curriculum. One size does not fit all. I have visited many second level schools as part of my work as a learning consultant. I was hired privately by the schools to work with children in this situation. It is a waste of time expecting the traditional junior certificate or leaving certificate, or even the applied leaving certificate programme, to suit them. It is a waste of time expecting these children to do homework. I suggested to the previous Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin, that provision should be made for a special type of junior and leaving certificate programme for these children, with a minimum of five subjects and an emphasis on practical learning. They could choose subjects they enjoy and which tie in with their interests and strengths and make them feel purposeful and meaningful. This is the way to keep them off the streets and make crime less attractive.

The Government must consider putting in place these types of alternatives for youngsters who are at risk. This is consistent with the views recently expressed by the head of the Garda inspectorate and former head of the Boston police force, Ms Kathleen O'Toole, that we must identify at-risk young people and target resources accordingly. We must invest in after-school clubs and alternatives that build on their strength. We must make these children feel useful. I know children like these in Galway city. I know, as do many other educators, how to devise a programme to assist them, in conjunction with community gardaí and the juvenile justice system. Some of these individuals can be saved.

The glamorisation of crime on television through detective shows and otherwise, and in computer games, is also an issue. Perhaps it is time to issue warnings before and after such television shows, in the same vein as the warnings on cigarette packets, to indicate that they are bad for one's health. We must examine the effect of that type of glamorisation on young people.