Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to discuss efforts to divert our young people from crime. At the core of our diversion efforts is the fact that all young people deserve the opportunity to improve their quality of life. We believe they deserve to have choices and be enabled to make better life decisions for themselves. Directly intervening to support our young people, especially those who are most at risk, is vital to build stronger and safer communities. As Minister of State, I am glad to have the opportunity to invest in and further develop our youth justice services. The work I have engaged with since being appointed has filled me with hope and optimism. Our approach to youth justice in Ireland, informed by international standards, is that children in conflict with the law are still children. They are entitled to dignity, respect and access to services that will promote their healthy engagement with their communities and wider society. Youth justice interventions are not about young people avoiding punishment or consequences but about recognising that many young people who stray from the proper path simply need support and direction to get their lives back on track. This is why preventing offending behaviour and diverting children and young people from further involvement in the criminal justice system are at the heart of what we do.

The youth justice strategy is a forward-thinking plan designed to address the unique challenges faced by young people in Ireland. It is a commitment to the young people of Ireland and a promise to create a brighter, more equitable future for all. At its core it emphasises early intervention, prevention, family support and community engagement.The strategy is not just a plan on paper, it has tangible actions and objectives aimed at promoting positive behavioural change. It is our strategy to directly target problem behaviours to help us break the cycle of young people reoffending.

We are continuing to implement and evaluate our youth justice strategy, which is now reaching its midway point. We have made a commitment in the programme for Government to develop a successor at the end of the current strategy's lifespan. The first principle underpinning the Children Act is that children should be diverted away from the criminal justice system where it is appropriate to do so, having considered the offending behaviour, the rights of the victim, and the interests of society.

Diversion into the Garda youth diversion programme is the first option, except in the case of serious crimes, or serious repeat offending. The statutory Garda programme is supported by a network of 93 youth diversion projects, each of which is managed by a community-based organisation, which may be a youth service or a local community resource centre. These community-based initiatives seek to divert young people who have become involved in crime and antisocial behaviour. They also support the wider preventative work within their communities, in particular with at-risk families.

We all know there is no quick-fix solution to diverting young offenders away from a life of crime. However, these youth diversion projects offer a responsive, empathetic road towards a better life for so many. I have been fortunate to see at first hand the incredible work being done by people in these projects around the country. I recently visited the Limerick Youth Service's youth diversion project, the Moyross youth diversion project in my home county and the Clare Youth Service in Ennis. These visits were great opportunities for me to meet the staff and participants of the projects and to hear their experiences. Both projects do amazing work in their respective communities, responding to the changing needs of families who use their services. The Moyross project, for example, operates a scrambler initiative, which receives funding from my Department. This programme seeks to educate young people about the safe use of vehicles as well as provide opportunities for motocross, personal development and educational activities. Youth diversion projects offer a chance at a better, more fulfilling life. Their work has been shown to have hugely positive impacts on the young people involved, their families and their communities.

My Department conducted a youth diversion project evaluation, which identified decreasing risk levels among participants in respect of peer relations, leisure and recreation, personality and behaviour, and attitudes and orientation. It showed that young people who engage in youth diversion projects were less involved in criminal or antisocial behaviour, had improved self-confidence and communication skills, increased happiness and an overall improved sense of hope.

Two new successful youth diversion project applications have recently been commissioned in east Clare and north Tipperary. I am delighted to say that when these projects are up and running before the end of the year we will have achieved a full nationwide coverage of the youth diversion programme. This means that any child in the country who needs to avail of these services will be able to do so.

The evaluation highlighted many existing strengths of the youth diversion projects. The personnel working on the projects were recognised as being exceptionally important. It found that they are experienced and highly qualified and report strong levels of satisfaction in their work. The report showed clear evidence that youth justice workers have a hugely positive impact on these young people, their families and their communities. As Minister of State, I am immensely proud and thankful for the tremendous work each of them does for the young people of this country.

The expansion of the service has been made possible by the unprecedented funding that has been allocated to youth justice services. By investing in our youth, we are investing in the future of Ireland. We are building a society where young people can achieve their potential, positively impact their communities and escape cycles of crime.

Funding for youth justice services has increased substantially from €18 million in 2020 to more than €36 million in budget 2025. It has also allowed for increased availability of these service at weekends and late at night. This was a key recommendation from the Department's evaluation. It ensures that these vital services are made available when many young people need them most. It increases our support for those young people who are hardest to reach and allows for early interventions for eight- to 11-year-olds who may be at increased risk of becoming engaged in criminal activity. All this reflects our continued commitment to investing in youth for the betterment of our communities.We have also made a commitment to expanding these services' availability to those aged from 18 to 24. We know from international research that a number of factors place young adults in this age group at a higher risk of becoming involved in criminal behaviour. It is important to reach out to this age group and ensure they recognise that they will not be abandoned and left to fend for themselves when they officially become young adults as they turn 18. Every cent we invest in diverting young people away from the criminal justice system pays us back in spades. It is also important to emphasise that diversion works. At the time of the introduction of the Children Act 2001, some 30,000 children committed crimes each year. By 2016 that had reduced to approximately 10,000. This decline has continued. In 2023, the most recent year for which official figures are available, the figure was 7,843.

Another key area in which my Department is supporting young people is the development of a court accompaniment service for young offenders. This service is being provided by the dedicated and skilled staff of the youth diversion projects alongside the court accompaniment services already funded for children who are witnesses or victims of sexual crime. The role of this accompaniment is not advocacy but to explain in layperson’s terms what is happening at the various stages of the proceedings and to be there as a support for the defendant. In the Children Court, the service may provide the court with an alternative to proceeding to a hearing and conviction. The alternative would be to defer and to invite the young defendant to work with the youth diversion project on the understanding that successful engagement with the project and a genuine commitment to a change of behaviour would be of real benefit to the defendant and allow a different conversation and conclusion when the case is relisted. The initiative builds on relationships already developed between courts and individual youth diversion projects in their areas and takes into account consultations with the Ombudsman for Children and the President of the District Court in July 2024. Even in the most serious cases that come before the Criminal Courts of Justice, this type of informal support by a professional youth justice worker may be the catalyst for the long-term rehabilitation of the young offender.

I will take this opportunity also to highlight some other examples of our commitment to preventing young people getting drawn into crime, one of which is the Greentown programme established by our Department in 2020. This programme aims to reduce the influence of criminal networks on children at risk of involvement. It also seeks to improve the likelihood of pro-social outcomes for children who are already involved in these criminal networks. The Greentown programme has been in place in two locations since 2021 and has now been extended for a further three years. Over the last two years, there have been notable improvements in reducing the influence of criminal networks in the trial site communities. Children and families are better enabled to withstand the powerful attraction of network membership and to make pro-social choices.

The programme also targets adults who seek to groom children into their criminal networks as one of its key pillars. Reducing the susceptibility of the young people concerned to negative influence by criminal networks has laid positive foundations for greater concentration on the network disruption pillar over this second phase of the trial sites. To further support this work, legislation was introduced last year that makes it an offence for an adult to either force or encourage children to engage in any criminal activity. Those found guilty of the offences under this Act may face imprisonment of up to 12 months on summary conviction and up to five years on indictment. The legislation recognises the life-long impact and harm done to a child who is drawn into criminal activity. Unfortunately, we are all too aware of the immensely damaging impact these organised crime gangs can have on communities. This is yet another key step as we strive to deliver on our commitment to criminalise those who target some of the most vulnerable in our society, our children and young people, in order to commit offences. I thank the Cathaoirleach and look forward to hearing the contributions from Members.