Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Deputy Niall Collins, to Seanad Éireann. The debate will follow the normal procedure, with the Minister and group spokespersons speaking for ten minutes and all other Senators for five minutes.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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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.

Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail)
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I wish to share my time with Senator Comyn. We will take four minutes each. I welcome the Minister of State to the House this afternoon. I listened to his contribution with interest. It was very positive and very much to be welcomed. Community safety is in all of our interests and should be a top priority for us all.Anything that supports young people, particularly those who are in need of support, is something for which we all strive. The youth justice strategy is designed to address the challenge faced by many young people and their families. It is a very positive story, as the Minister of State outlined. At the time of the introduction of the Children Act in 2001, some 30,000 children committed crimes each year and embarked on a dark road that no one wanted to see them travel. By 2016, that figure had reduced to approximately 10,000 and, as the Minister of State outlined, the most recent figures show it had reduced to approximately 7,800 in 2023. That is a hugely positive story when we consider the striking increase in the country's population over the past 24 years.

We all know early intervention is key and that is where success or otherwise is achieved. Thankfully, the community gets funds invested in this particular area back in spadefuls. I know a key initiative in the current strategy is the development and enhancement of youth diversion projects. As the Minister of State outlined, these projects seek to direct young people who become involved in crime and antisocial behaviour and support wider prevention work within communities and, in particular, within families. None of us want to see any young person go down that dark road to which I referred. None of us want to see the stress it brings to the wider family and the hardship it brings to communities. Youth diversion is very much a good news story and a positive story.

I know young people in my community who went down that dark road but with the intervention of the youth diversion programme, they turned back. That was hugely positive and they have all grown and become the best people they can be. It was a hugely positive experience for me to witness that. If it is positive for me, I can only imagine how positive it is for the young people concerned and for their families because this can be a very stressful experience of all.

The Minister of State cited the figures for Government investment. In 2020, we were investing approximately €18 million in this area. In budget 2025, it is projected that figure will rise to €36 million. That is money very well spent. As the Minister of State said, we will get that investment back in spadefuls as a community.

I welcome that more support will be given to young people who are the hardest to reach from an early age. These are the eight- to 11-year-olds who may be at risk of becoming involved in criminal activity. I know before the end of this particular cycle, the plan is to expand that to 18- to 24-year-olds, which is a very positive development and one I look forward to.

The landmark Policing, Security and Community Safety Act will provide for the establishment of local community safety partnerships throughout the country. These partnerships will complement the work of the youth diversion project, providing accessible services that young people want to engage in.

The Act also provides for a national office for community safety, which will address the specific needs of young people, ensuring that no one is left behind. Too many children with complex backgrounds and needs still come to Garda attention. We must continue to strive to improve their quality of life with everyone else in their communities and in line with the youth justice strategy.

In summary, I thank the Minister of State for his presentation. It is one of the most positive we have had the pleasure to listen to in this House. Every euro spent in this area is money well spent.

Alison Comyn (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for attending the House today. I welcome the opportunity to talk about how we can best serve the young people of all our communities and try to steer them away from criminal activities to find a more positive and productive path. Far too many young men and women are tempted into following nefarious paths and keeping them in education and out of trouble is becoming much more of a struggle. That does not mean we give up. In fact, we need to double down on efforts to offer a viable alternative to a life of crime or long-term unemployment.

I will raise an issue plaguing communities across the country, which the Minister of State also raised, namely, the misuse of scramblers. This was most recently brought to a national light with the tragic death of 18-year-old Jason Monks in Citywest two weeks ago.I am currently working with the families of two young boys aged nine and ten in east Meath who were badly injured after being hit by scramblers in separate incidents in their own estate, one in his own front garden. There is nothing wrong with the vehicles themselves. It is the dangerous and illegal way they are being ridden that is the problem. I welcome the recent tightening of laws that allows for the seizure of vehicles and greater powers for gardaí, but this is not a good enough deterrent. There need to be greater sanctions, possibly even on the parents who are purchasing these expensive and very dangerous toys.

In conjunction with that, we need to look at offering safer alternatives to keep youths engaged and interested. Again, as referenced by the Minister of State, back in 2024, the then Minister of State with responsibility for law reform and youth justice, Deputy James Browne, provided €200,000 in funding to eight community-based projects to work with young people involved in the antisocial use of scramblers and quad bikes and related crime. The projects consulted An Garda Síochána and local authorities to provide tracks and related facilities, and they encouraged young people to engage positively to learn motorcycle skills, including maintenance, combined with relevant educational and personal development activities. Given the rise of scrambler misuse, I ask that perhaps we audit the success rate of those projects to see if funding could be sourced to reintroduce a similar scheme throughout the country, particularly in Louth and east Meath.

We also need to look after the successful schemes we have but which are in dire need of funding. The Footsteps project is a personal youth development programme based in Moneymore in Drogheda which serves young men and women aged 16 to 24. Its current funding will run out in December 2026 and this impending gap could have a devastating effect on the vital services it provides to vulnerable young people in this largely disadvantaged community. Since Footsteps began in 2017, 46 participants have benefited, leading to long-lasting outcomes as they become adults. Three have gone on to sit on the board of the Connect Family Resource Centre in Drogheda, showcasing their growth and commitment to community involvement and leadership. They have also celebrated achievements, such as the leadership for life graduation, and have made huge strides in breaking the cycle of young women from low socioeconomic areas not attending college and diverting young people from antisocial behaviour, the reason we are here today. Their efforts have also been recognised with a Louth Garda youth award and the Deargh Armstrong award for outstanding community contribution, highlighting the positive impact on the youth they serve.

Sadly, in recent months, two projects have ended due to lack of funding and they are currently at capacity, with a waiting list of young people seeking support. It is crucial they secure the necessary funding to continue these essential programmes, which have been funded by the International Fund for Ireland, with the plan being for them to be mainstreamed by a Department. Eight years later, however, they still remain dependent on unsustainable funding streams and urgently require a Department or multidepartmental approach to mainstream projects such as Footpaths. In many cases, the programmes are already in place and we should do our best to allow them to continue the good work they already do in keeping our young people away from crime.

Sharon Keogan (Independent)
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I welcome the Minister of State to the House to talk about a topic that is very important to us. The diversion of young people from the path of criminal activity is not just a matter of crime statistics; it is about the future of our children and the health of our communities. Recent reports have highlighted the challenges we face, for instance, the overcrowding in Oberstown children's detention campus, which has capacity for 46 juveniles but often exceeds that limit. This has led to some youths being released due to lack of space. It is a symptom of a deeper problem, the lack of early intervention and support for at-risk youth. The new Government policy of enhancing engagement with young people includes expanding the network of Garda youth diversion projects to provide greater early intervention, family support and engagement with younger children.

The granted Oberstown 2023 budget shows that it cost the Irish taxpayer up to €2,500 per child per day. There is no doubt that preventative programmes will not only be more effective and humane but they will also be cheaper. Moreover, initiatives like the bail supervision scheme and restorative justice practices have shown promise in addressing the root causes of crime and reducing recidivism. This Government programme offers therapeutic supports and, often, conversations between victims and perpetrators, and it encourages young people not to reoffend.I particularly encourage the allocation to focus its resources on organisations such as EPIC and YAP. I believe we should focus on a preventative approach that supports children at risk and in marginalised situations and families.

We must also address the influence of organised crime on our youth. Legislation introduced by the Minister for Justice criminalises adults who force or entice children into criminal lifestyles, with penalties of up to five years in prison. This is a step in the right direction, but it could and should go a lot further. Enforcement and community support are key. As I have previously stated, communities need to come together and decide what they want to be. Councils must examine the physical layout of their areas, install community lighting and ensure the common spaces do not inadvertently contribute to the formation of gangs engaged in antisocial behaviour.

It is also important that we be hard-nosed realists about youth crime. We cannot totally succumb to a naive, feel-good view that all criminals are themselves victims or poverty and bad circumstances. Many juvenile offenders are far from stupid. They are often fully aware that a sorry face and an appeal for a second chance can serve as the perfect get out of jail card. Only last February, an RTÉ investigation revealed that, between 2010 and 2023, 4,289 young people were referred to the diversion programme for sexual offences, including rape, with 795 of them being accepted. We should make a clear distinction between the levels of seriousness of crimes. Please remember that part of the diversion programme involves dropping the charges against the minor in operation. Dismissing charges of graffiti and vandalism is not nearly the same as dismissing charges of rape. What is also worrying is that, for severe crimes such as these, the involvement of the victim is not obligatory in the referral process. This needs to be changed.

If we are to talk about prevention, as I have said again and again, we simply cannot continue to neglect An Garda Síochána. The physical presence of our police is the most vital pillar of law enforcement. We can never expect these programmes to compensate for the underfunded, in-demand police force. I said it earlier and will repeat it again: many young offenders are not stupid. They are perfectly aware that they can get away with crime easily. It takes hours, in many cases, for gardaí to respond to calls.

I know the Minister of State was previously at the new Department for higher education that was set up during the previous Dáil term. The Department's apprenticeship programme is one way to get children and youths into proper jobs. The young people just want something to do. Very often, if a child or teenager can be given a chance in life and can be shown a better way, they will take it. I was not aware of the Greentown programme until now. I was not aware of it because I believe it is only in Limerick. That should be rolled out in every big city in this country. I had only heard of the Greentown programme today. I looked it up and it is involved with the University of Limerick. It should be available in Drogheda, Monaghan, Meath, Cavan and all the other counties. Let us commit to providing our young people with the support and opportunities they need to lead positive and productive lives. However, let us also remain stern on serious crime and increase our funding and support for law and order enforcement.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Before I call the next speaker, I welcome guests of Deputy Jen Cummins to the Seanad. They are most welcome, and I thank them for being here.

Garret Kelleher (Fine Gael)
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Ar son Fhine Gael, cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Collins, chuig an Seanad chun an t-ábhar tábhachtach seo a phlé - conas is féidir linn daoine óga a atreorú ó ghníomhaíocht choiriúil. Ó toghadh mé chuig an Teach seo i mí Feabhra, tá an-chuid seanfhocal cloiste againn ó Sheanadóirí éagsúla, agus go minic bíonn an-chiall ag baint leo. Is iad an dá cheann a sheasann amach dom agus a théann go mór i bhfeidhm orm ná "mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí" agus "tús maith leath na hoibre". Is fíor an dá sheanfhocal seo nuair a smaoinímid ar dhaoine óga nach mbíonn an t-ádh leo túis mhaithe a bheith acu sa saol, agus go háirithe nuair a smaoinímid ar pháistí a thagann ó theaghlaigh nó ó phobail a mbíonn míbhuntáistí ag baint leo. Gan amhras ar bith, is ceart agus is cóir breis airgid agus acmhainní a chur ar fáil do thionscnaimh agus scéimeanna atá dírithe ar dhaoine óga a bhfuil an chabhair riachtanach seo is mó ag teastáil uathu. I was heartened to hear all of what the Minister of State had to say in his opening statement. I absolutely agree with Senator Gallagher that it was one of the most positive contributions we have heard in this House.

In my community in Ballincollig in Cork, we have seen the fruits of a collaborative community approach. We are fortunate to have two superb community gardaí in Anthony McSweeney and Paddy Casey, who, along with Sergeant Jim Morrissey and our juvenile liaison officer, Liam Linehan, are very much in tune with the needs of young people throughout our community, in particular those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds or complex or difficult family situations.

Our local community gardaí, along with local volunteers, are also directly involved in the organisation of under-12 inter-estate soccer leagues, which help to build public confidence and trust among young people in An Garda Síochána and community leaders and activists. It is vital that the role of sport continues to be recognised and investment continued in future Government strategies and initiatives.

The preventative rather than interventionist approach is also at the core of the work carried out by Youthreach in our community. Our Youthreach co-ordinator, Karen Hogan, emphasises the importance of the development of life skills in helping to build confidence and empowering young people with whom they work. These are often the people who feel they do not fit in with mainstream community organisations, schools and clubs and are looking beyond these for the help and support they need to reach their potential.

Like Senator Comyn, I also commend our family resource centres. We are very fortunate to have a superb family resource centre in Ballincollig, which, with the additional financial support that has been provided, is now in the position to provide the likes of one-to-one counselling and child psychology, which is of enormous help to people in our community.

The importance of youth diversion projects in our communities, as emphasised by the Minister of State, cannot be overstated. Several of these operate in Cork. The Minister of State is scheduled to visit various youth diversion projects around the country. These visits are vital, crucial and important to understanding exactly what is involved in projects and initiatives that have life-changing, meaningful and tangible results. Visits to the youth diversion projects in Cork would be greatly appreciated and I would welcome the opportunity to accompany the Minister of State should such visits be organised.

At the heart of all of the issues raised in the debate today is funding - the need for increased funding for community initiatives, sports, youth clubs and additional gardaí. Youth justice funding, as the Minister of State alluded to, increased in last year’s budget and is now more than €36 million, which is very welcome. I believe, however, that there is broad agreement in the House that it should be increased again in this year’s budget. The difference this funding makes to the young people most at risk of engaging in criminal activity cannot be overstated. As the Minister of State comprehensively outlined, there is impactful work being done in youth justice and it needs to be better resourced. With more funding, much more can be done. One area that is hugely important is the implementation of diversion-based responses to young adults in the 18 to 24 bracket, as the Minister of State alluded to in his opening remarks. Once a person turns 18, it does not automatically mean they do not need youth justice interventions and it is important this cohort is not ignored or overlooked.

Mar a dúirt mé i dtosach, mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. Young people should be helped to reach their potential and should be empowered to take the life choices that best fit for themselves as individuals to prevent them from falling into a life of crime. The Government’s approach must continue to be one that is aimed at preventing young people from coming into contact with the criminal justice system and that encourages them to positively engage with their own communities. Such an approach is the route to stronger and safer communities.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Before I call the next speaker, I welcome from Offaly County Council guests of Deputy Tony McCormack. They are most welcome to Seanad Éireann and I thank them for being here. Senator Nicole Ryan is sharing time with Senators Collins and Andrews. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Nicole Ryan (Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, and thank the Cathaoirleach for the opportunity to speak on this critical issue.

Our goal must be clear: to keep as many young people as possible out of the criminal justice system by addressing the root causes of crime, which are poverty, exclusion, addiction and lack of opportunities for younger people. Prevention and rehabilitation must be the focus if we are serious about building a safer and fairer community.

While cities see some level of youth investment, rural Ireland is constantly being left behind. Services are often concentrated in urban centres while rural communities are left scrambling for scraps. In my constituency of Cork North-West, we have one community superintendent who is in charge of 19 different towns and villages all at the one time.

For many young people, the cost of college, the lack of accommodation and the high prices of travel mean they are staying in their communities and they are being locked out of opportunities. We see many young people staying in the community just because they cannot afford to move out of their community into the bigger cities. They are staying in communities because, as I said, there are fewer options and very little support and it is a space where sometimes poverty, addiction and isolation can take root.

Addiction is a key part of this picture, especially in rural Ireland in recent years. Whether it is alcohol, drugs or behavioural addictions such as gambling, they are not individual moral failings. As an addiction counsellor myself, I have worked with many young people who are in the depths of addiction who come from fantastic families but who are now tied up in different parts of the criminal system because they owe debts to people. It is something that, in rural Ireland, is still seen as more of an urban issue than a rural issue but, in fact, it is everybody's problem. It is an issue in every crevice and village in Ireland, both rural and urban.

These symptoms disguise a deeper cause of social inclusion inequality, and if we want to talk about crime, we have to talk about the addiction treatment and the mental health supports that young people need and the poverty reduction around that. Youth workers play a vital role in this as well. Everyone shared their sentiment about youth work. Sometimes the youth worker is the only consistent adult in young people's lives. The youth worker is the trusted adult they need but, equally, youth workers also need funding because we see many youth workers being undervalued and underpaid and they do such amazing work. Substantial investment in youth work would be fantastic.

We are calling, as every other Senator here has mentioned, for investment in fantastic existing projects such as the TRY project, Foróige and CDYS. These all do fantastic work. Also, I would ask the Minister of State to consider the roll-out of local community safety partnerships because it takes a village to raise a child, and we all know that. It takes everybody's commitment to youth safety and youth crime prevention. It would be great to have a timeline on the Garda youth diversion programme that is being introduced for those up to 24 years of age. That would be great to see.

There are also other fantastic projects and wider supports that have been acknowledged. For instance, Senator Andrews has introduced the concept of the activity card, which would be a fantastic thing to have. It is based on the Planet Youth model for young people.

Diverting young people from crime is more than just keeping them out of the courts. It is about giving them a chance to thrive, and I think everybody in the House echoes that. It is about addressing poverty, addiction, inclusion and making sure no young person is left behind without any type of hope. I hope that is what we can all build together.

Joanne Collins (Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the Minister of State. I want to take a moment to recognise the incredible work being done through a youth diversion programme in Rathkeale in County Limerick, a programme that was relaunched by the Minister of State earlier this year and which is already making a real difference. Rathkeale is a town that has often been unfairly stereotyped. This programme is helping to build trust, opportunity and hope, and not only for the young people but for the entire community. Youth workers on the ground are doing vital work - building relationships, preventing antisocial behaviour and offering young people pathways from crime towards brighter futures. This is exactly what youth diversion is meant to do - support not punish, guide not judge - and in Rathkeale we are seeing how impactful that approach can be when it is community led, properly resourced and built on respect. Programmes such as this should not be an exception, however; they should be the norm. Therefore, I am asking the Minister of State to secure sustained funding for Rathkeale to allow this programme to deepen the impact but also for an expansion of youth diversion programmes across all major towns, villages and urban centres, particularly those that face social disadvantage.Every young person deserves a chance to be supported and every community deserves the safety and cohesion that youth diversion can bring. Let us back these programmes, back our youth workers and back our young people.

Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. As outlined by the previous speakers, this is an important issue. Speaking for my constituency, there is a real demand and need for gardaí right across the inner city because in nearly every aspect it has been neglected for years - the south inner city in particular. The Dublin city task force report did not include the south inner city. That has led to disparity relating to funding and supports for community groups.

One issue that is currently causing residents huge distress is down on City Quay, only five minutes from here. Maybe on their way home this evening, people could walk down and have a look at the chaos and mayhem that will be taking place on and around the bridge at City Quay. For the past few nights, there has been absolute mayhem. That is all you can describe it as. It is mayhem. As has been said, the gardaí, including Superintendent Dermot McKenna and the community gardaí, have been second to none. They have been professional and engaged but there are not enough gardaí to address the issue. With the good weather coming in, young people are out and about more than they would have been. There are more distractions for them. Last night, there was a stabbing on the street at City Quay. A garda was arresting one of the young people and a brick was thrown at him. Residents on City Quay are afraid to leave their houses in the evenings now. On these fine evenings, they are afraid to leave their houses. That just simply is not good enough. The violence that is happening down on City Quay would have made headlines in the news ten or 15 years ago but now nobody even gives it a second thought.

I acknowledge and recognise that we are not going to police our way out of this. There has to be an investment in community services. Talk about Youth is a youth service on Pearse Street. It does not have its own-door premises. It is the only youth club on Pearse Street and it has to rent and book its activity spaces a week in advance. It does not have the resources to work with under-10s. By the time a child in the inner city gets to 10 years of age, the chances are that his or her future and destiny are determined. There needs to be an investment. There is no boxing club on Pearse Street. The community infrastructure that is needed is not there. There needs to be an investment in gardaí and community services.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Senators Cosgrove and Stephenson have indicated they wish to share time. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Nessa Cosgrove (Labour)
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I welcome the Minister of State. I have worked as a professional youth worker for the past 25 years. This is an area close to my heart. As Senator Kelleher said, mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. These are children we are talking about. I do not think anyone wakes up in the morning and says, "Do you know what, I am going to get involved in crime." If we review the statistics of young people who are involved in crime or heading into crime, the majority have lived with some level of disadvantage. They have lived through years of poverty and neglect. Often they have had early childhood experiences resulting in needs that have been unmet. I commend youth workers, and not just the youth diversion programmes but the general job of youth workers, where they have worked for years underpaid and often in very difficult situations. It baffles me that youth services always have to fight for resources. This is an opportunity to see that we are moving away from a more punitive style of justice. It is great to see that this diversion programme is happening but it cannot be taken in isolation. None of the young people with whom I have had the experience of working want to go down the route of a life of crime. They can see this if they were properly supported, with family support and community support. The education system is not suitable to their needs. Young people I have worked with through the years are starting to feel really supported in some ways, which could be through school completion projects or the home-school liaison project, which I was involved with for years. Then they turn 18 years of age and all of a sudden all those supports are taken away from them. I agree with Senator Andrews' comments that a lot of youth services are restricted to working with young people from ten years up to 18. Organisations such as Foróige or Youth Work Ireland are moving towards working with young people up to the age of 24 but often those early years are missed.

We cannot address the area of youth crime in isolation. We must have a full combat poverty strategy. There was a fantastic combat poverty strategy at one stage where the needs of young people were truly met. Young people and children have needs just like we do, including personal development needs. If these needs are not being met, it is very difficult to continue on your life and particularly with education, early years and dealing with years of addiction maybe through their own family members who have been left neglected in their own communities. There is also the addiction that young people are falling into themselves without the proper supports.

I have met with the National Youth Council of Ireland, NYCI, and it has raised some really constructive measures. It is not just diversion programmes and Department of Justice funding. Some of these services are under Tusla or the Departments of education and children. The education and training boards fund many of these UBU targeted youth projects as well. The NYCI has asked for multi-annual funding. It cannot programme plan because it is only getting funding on a yearly basis.

Youth workers and social care workers are not being attracted into the sector because of the low pay and because they do not have consistent long-term contracts. There are no pensions, which is a very big issue for youth workers. When the Government is looking at this diversion programme, I urge the Minister of State to listen to the voices of people such as those in the National Youth Council of Ireland. The Irish Traveller Movement brought out a survey that reported there were no targeted youth projects for young Travellers in most counties, who are one of the most marginalised groups within our society.

This debate is very important but it has to be listened to. If we are going to be really serious about diverting young people away from crime, we need to listen to youth services and properly fund youth and community services.

Patricia Stephenson (Social Democrats)
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I certainly echo a lot of what Senator Cosgrove has said. Youth diversion from crime is fundamentally about prevention and addressing the root causes. I spoke earlier in the Chamber about root causes that can lead young people into criminality. We have to look at the root causes of any issue to actually solve it. Often these root causes are poverty, marginalisation, addiction, social exclusion, intergenerational trauma and systematic neglect of communities. When there is a failure to intervene early and support families living with and dealing with these root causes it creates a vacuum for criminal actors to fill by offering young people a false sense of inclusion and value and ultimately exploiting them. Addressing this requires us to increase young people's sense of belonging and value within society.

We have great organisations in Carlow and Kilkenny such as Ossory Youth and Carlow Regional Youth Services. They are doing really exceptional work in outreach, mentoring and early intervention. Their youth diversion projects and school community engagement help to build confidence, purpose and connection through meaningful adult mentorship. What is critical about this is that the work is long-term and needs to be person-centred and youth-led but in reality these services are really overstretched. They are often forced to prioritise the most at-risk child, due to staffing and funding, as Senator Cosgrove has said.What that means is we do not have early enough interventions before a child is labelled at risk or the most at-risk child. What about the other children, however? We need to see much earlier investment in youth services. Similarly, the National Youth Council does not have multi-annual funding and is not able to hire staff. It is a huge issue. In the North, there is much greater regulation and professionalisation of the youth sector and we need something like that down here as well.

Recent parliamentary questions tabled by my colleague, Deputy Farrelly, revealed that An Garda Síochána does not systematically record the number of strip searches involving under-18s or whether appropriate adults or medical professionals are actually present. I believe this highlights a really big gap in oversight and accountability in how we treat vulnerable young people in custody. It is quite disturbing that this data is not collected. The absence of data on how a minor may, potentially, be strip searched without an appropriate person raises serious concerns about transparency and adherence to child protection and human rights.

We also often hear in the media really derogatory language being used to describe young people who are involved in crime. I am sure many of us have been responsible for using that language ourselves and it is that self-reinforcement where people are pigeon-holed and demonised. I once heard a guy in the UK speak about his experience of the care system before he was arrested for murder at the age of 19 and served a life sentence. He said that when he was in the care system the young kids in the care system asked one another what they were in for. They used this language of criminalisation. He said he felt that the logical next step for him was to go into crime. So he got involved in a dangerous incident and stabbed someone but it was not something that he wanted to do. That speaks a lot to how children and young people can be exposed to the cultural norms of crime, and how they understand and value themselves, and align themselves with one another. It is because they lack positive role models and there is a lack of proper youth services. There has been systematic underfunding during the austerity years and services were cut. The root cause of all of these issues around marginalisation and poverty have not been properly addressed and I really wish we could centre this debate on that aspect. I know no-one is trying to talk about using the language of criminalisation about children because no-one is born a criminal and problems stems from their living conditions. We must commit to making this shift and hold ourselves, the people with whom we work and the communities that we engage with, responsible for making this shift. We need to move from punitive systems to early prevention and to adopt a rights-based approach that invests in youth work and supports families and communities to build resilience.

Eileen Flynn (Independent)
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I will come at this issue from the angle of poverty and ethnic minorities, and people on the margin of Irish society. I would not be where I am today if it was not for my local youth service in Ballyfermot and its youth workers, Gerry McCarthy and Janice McGarry. For years I was member of a youth forum and I was politicised through the work done by the youth forum. Even back then, youth organisations struggled. In 2011 or 2012, there was a dramatic cut in funding for youth organisations. That funding was not re-instated to organisations like the Ballyfermot youth centre and the family-based youth project in Ballyfermot, and the Garda youth diversion programmes in places such as Ballyfermot and Donegal.

A Senator who spoke previously said that there are few or no youth groups for the Traveller community. That is not true. There is a national Traveller youth group called Involve that works in the midlands, Donegal and all over Ireland, along with the Exchange House service. Again, there is a lack of funding and investment by the Government.The Irish Traveller Movement has a powerful youth-led programme at the moment to deliver youth work on the ground for young Travellers nationally. Poverty is the root cause of young children becoming involved in crime.

I know exactly what it is like, as do many others in the Travelling community, to suffer exclusion at the hands of society and the State. This morning I introduced a Commencement matter relating to the reduced timetables for Traveller and Roma children, and children with additional needs, including those who are autistic. Many children can fall into crime because they are desperate to fit into a community. When you are judged by society because you are different, it is hard to book a table in the local café for you and your friends. I read a quote on social media that stuck with me. It stated that if young people believe they do not belong in a village, they will burn it down. It does not make it right, but that recognises the importance of the sense of belonging and community.

I mean no disrespect to the Government or anyone else, but it needs to be said that we are failing children and those in the margins of society through education, mental health services and addiction services. We forget about the young people I see in Ballyfermot on a daily basis who are addicted to drugs. The lives of young men and women, and their families, are absolutely destroyed. I have two children and I pray to God every day because I see addiction in my own family. I have relations, young men, in Mountjoy Prison at the moment. That is not something of which I am proud. It is not something of which their mother and father are proud. Nobody rears their children to get involved in criminal activities. We must all take responsibility, and not just the youth workers who are underfunded.

I am a qualified youth worker. Yesterday, I met a group of young Traveller students and youth workers. A young Traveller man asked me who Michael D. Higgins was when he saw a portrait of him on a wall. The man asked if Michael D. Higgins was the Taoiseach and I told him he was not. I made this point earlier on a Commencement matter relating to education. It is a failure of the system when a 16-year-old cannot recognise the President. He could turn a car inside out as a mechanic. Traveller children are extremely educated when it comes to practical work but they are failed by the system. They are failed before they complete primary school. So many young Traveller children just fall through the gaps. The same is true of migrant children and those with learning disabilities and additional needs.

A youth service is not a luxury for a young person. In some areas, it is a lifeline that can save children's lives. I do not know where I would be today. There are nine of us, and I was the one who got lucky. I have a brother who is a really bad drug addict. I have so much addiction in my family. I was able to escape poverty because of the quality of the opportunities available to me. Some members of my family did not have the same opportunities. My nephews did not. It is a vicious circle. I am talking at a personal level because it is the best way that I understand the situation. It is the only way I can get people in this House to understand. Some of us get lucky; some of us do not. My brother and I had the exact same upbringing. He had the same opportunities in life as me. He is a few years older than me. He weighs about 5 stone at the moment. He is strung out on drugs. He is a fine, good-looking young man with five children. His situation is the result of the lack of opportunities he got. There are many more young people like him in areas such as Ballyfermot and Donegal, and elsewhere up and down this country. Garda-led youth diversion programmes can work. I have worked with young people in the past and the programmes have worked in areas like Ballyfermot, but I am begging that we invest in our youth organisations to work with our young people. Prevention is better than intervention. Who are we to say that because they are Traveller children their lives matter more or less than a white, settled child? That should not be the case. For me, this is extremely personal. I see well-reared children's mothers praying night and day that they will not get involved with gangs or drugs. It is unfortunate that they often do. It is migrant children, Traveller children, children with disabilities, children who feel like they are lost causes within these communities. We need to invest in these children. It should not matter what part of the country they are from, whether it is Cork, Tallaght or Donegal. All our young people need is respect and equality of opportunities. That does not just lie in the hands of the Minister for Justice; it requires a collective approach around health, mental health, addiction, education and employment. At present, 86% of the Traveller community is unemployed. If people could have a good quality of life and have the same opportunities to work and education, etc., we would not have some of these issues in our community. It is about investing in the communities. Prevention is better than intervention. It is poverty. We need a collective approach to stop crime without blaming the young person. The Government needs to take a degree of responsibility as well because of the level of failures we have had for young people in this country for many decades.

Anne Rabbitte (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for being here and I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this. I thank Senator Flynn for her personal contribution and for sharing her lived experience with us. It is important for us all to acknowledge that lived experience.

I was doing research in advance of coming in here and I agree with Senator Gallagher; the Minister of State's opening statement was very welcome. Like many colleagues, I was not aware of the Greentown project. It is based on pillars, facts and evidence. My question is: when can we see more of these rolled out?

When researching for a debate like this, one would check how many youth diversion programmes there are around the country and I would always check how many there are in Galway first. There are three in Galway. When I researched Cork I saw there are nine. As they are both similar-sized counties which are rural with a city; why does Cork have nine and Galway have three?

What I like about the Greentown project is that it is evidence based. It is about breaking that link between the child at the centre of the family or community and that continuous cycle of crime, the dependance on it and the sense that it is the only way out.

One of the biggest parts we have to put into our youth diversion projects is to bring people back into education. If you are educated you can build a way out of that world. Our youth development workers are working hard on the ground but I often hear they are finding it hard to link back into education and back into the secondary schools. In the past, youth project workers were able to go in and work with the secondary schools from where a young person had fallen out or had been given time out. Now it is like expulsion on the first go and there is no route back in. That is very unfortunate and it makes the youth projects really hard and it makes it hard for our social workers. In Ballinasloe we have the junction project.Senator Gareth Scahill and I know well about that project. Martin Dolphin is leading it out down there, a good Portumna man. He is in charge of it. Christy Browne, the Garda member, did so much work in recent years. It is great to see funding in the past five years has gone from €18 million to €36 million. Christy used to be involved with the Courts Service and had to take some of the offerings from the box to give to the youth projects to ensure they could deliver some of their functions. One of the biggest things I picked up from talking to Martin recently was that sometimes they need to go on excursions. They need to be taken out of their environment and given the opportunity to be children, play and enjoy a game of football without feeling the peer pressure they might feel in that environment.

If the Minister of State brings the energy he brought to his speech to funding for more Greentown projects, I would certainly welcome it. I would plead for one in the likes of Galway. I commend the youth workers working in the youth projects and the gardaí who support them and do phenomenal work on it. At the same time, we need to have ETBs and education more on the pitch because we do not all learn the same way. Some people may never have got a diagnosis of dyslexia or ADHD. Everybody might respond a little bit differently. How can we retrain people? We can do it with people with additional needs. We should also be able to do it with young people falling out of the education system and finding themselves in a life of crime.

Gareth Scahill (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming in today. I will not go over what my colleagues have mentioned but I would like to acknowledge the family resource centres in Roscommon, Foróige, Youth Work Ireland and the 101 youth diversion schemes going on around the country. I ask that we continue to support them and look to expand the range of their offering.

Senator Flynn mentioned Ballyfermot and Donegal and how the influx of people turning to crime and criminal activity has increased there, but it knows no borders, county lines or constituency lines. It is only by having conversations like we are having now that we will highlight it, address it and come up with potential solutions that will reduce the number and reduce the curve. Senator Rabbitte mentioned education and that was what I had down here to speak about in relation to this. Education, education, education - that will be the key to turning the curve, diverting these people away from crime and empowering our young people.

I spoke in the Chamber yesterday about a pilot programme in a secondary school in Strokestown, where a commercial entity has gone in and started delivering Safe Pass courses to students in transition year. I highlight it because those students now have something to look forward to in the summer months when they go out and do a physical job they would otherwise have been impeded from doing because they did not have the proper paperwork. Since Covid, young people have a different social environment from the one we all grew up in and experienced. They engage with things very differently from how we did, and that is why we have to constantly evolve and come up with solutions.

I met representatives of the north-west restorative justice service the other night. They are talking about changing cultural norms and what needs to change. They are on about drug intimidation. They made a valid point to me that our prisons are full to capacity at the moment. By building more prisons, are we going to put more people away or do we have to change how we deliver and administer justice? They highlight the fact there is no such thing as a victimless crime nowadays. We need to integrate people who have had one or two indiscretions back into their communities and let them serve a part in and become part of those communities. They have a great way of doing that. It is by engaging with businesses, individuals or domestic households who have experienced crime or suffered from crime and having them speak with people who have been convicted or found guilty of these things. It is a two-way process of rebuilding but if the victims can engage with the perpetrators, there is no reason the communities cannot engage with the perpetrators. It was also highlighted to me that young people nowadays are using social media and specifically Snapchat - I do not know if I am allowed to say that - and are being offered opportunities for easy money. This easy money has a knock-on effect. We would be doing a disservice to young people throughout the country if we did not try to come up with a way of being able to tag and call out the social media companies to actually monitor and back this up themselves because there is a knock-on effect to this. It is affecting families and communities and the number of suicides in our rural communities at the moment. It does not stop there. Drug intimidation follows these people, who may be incarcerated or take their own lives. These individuals are being followed for the money they are losing through this.

We need education, first of all, within the youth diversion programmes, schools, youth clubs and family resource centres to support and provide the information and give them the opportunities to learn the impacts of their actions and where they are leading to. It is about empowering these individuals to determine and plot out their own futures. I wish the Minister of State the very best of luck with that.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach for the opportunity to have the debate and I thank all of the Senators who have made a contribution on this very important topic. It is clear from the contributions that this issue is one of great importance to Members of this House. All would agree that we must continue to provide opportunities for young people to contribute to society in a productive and meaningful way. We all have that shared interest.

It is also clear from the contributions that this cannot be achieved by one Department or agency working in isolation. It must come through a whole-of-government approach and our Department, for example, is working with colleagues in all of the relevant Departments and agencies at national and local levels in six potential pilot areas to implement the no wrong door principle. The idea is that we will map the availability of current services in each of these areas, map the target group of young people in the area, identify the gaps in necessary services and bring all relevant statutory and voluntary services together to provide a joint response to the need and challenges of families in that particular area.

I have spoken at length about the benefits of youth diversion and youth diversion projects and I want to stress and reiterate to Members that diversion is not about people avoiding punishment or consequences. I alluded earlier to the fact that we now have 93 youth diversion projects spanning the country which now gives us 100% nationwide coverage, which is really important. Today, for example, I visited County Laois and I met with the team in Foróige in Portlaoise who offer and roll out the youth diversion project in the county. I heard of the very positive contribution they are making to their local community. Tomorrow, I will be in Clonmel and will meet the team there. The very first youth diversion project I met was in my own constituency back last February when I was appointed to this job. I was delighted to visit the town of Rathkeale, which was mentioned earlier, where we relaunched a newly merged and expanded youth diversion project for County Limerick which I, as a representative for the area, know is doing immense work in the communities right across west Limerick and further afield. I compliment the manager there, Richie Bowens, Kirsty Boucher and their team and, of course, An Garda Síochána Superintendent Michael Fleming and his team, who do outstanding work, along with their juvenile liaison officers. I mentioned the Children Act, and I reiterate that that Act requires all child offenders to be considered for diversion, with prosecution only for serious offences or prolific reoffending. The most serious offences are subject to a formal criminal investigation and are referred to the DPP, but it is important that each child is assessed and each case considered on its merits.

The youth justice strategy is now reaching its midway point. The operation of the Garda youth diversion programme is kept under constant review by An Garda Síochána and our own Department of Justice. This has included, during the development of the current youth justice strategy, examination of all recommendations on youth justice issues that have been raised in previous reports or in discussions with relevant stakeholders.

It is important that the victims' voices are heard, and we know that where children are the offenders, victims very often want to be heard, to hear remorse and to be assured it will not happen again. Restorative justice is embedded in the work of our juvenile liaison officers and the youth diversion project staff. The Children Act provides for the presence of a victim at a formal caution, where the young person accepts responsibility for their offending behaviour. Where An Garda Síochána directs that a restorative caution be administered, this is an opportunity for a child’s behaviour to be addressed in a way that holds the child accountable while ensuring the victim experiences validation and recognition for the harm. By validating the victim’s experience and by reintegrating the child back into their community, restorative justice is associated with more positive outcomes for the victim and better outcomes for the offender, with a lower risk of reoffending. The restorative caution was utilised in almost 300 referrals to the youth diversion programme by An Garda Síochána in 2024.

I know everyone in this House values the role of An Garda Síochána in positively influencing the lives of young people, particularly community gardaí, who do incredible work throughout the country by engaging meaningfully with young people to develop and foster positive relationships and promote personal and community safety. Whether it is running late-night soccer leagues for young people in Dublin's inner city, visiting local schools or just being a visible and approachable figure in the community, the impact of community gardaí is immeasurable. I also want to commend the work of our Garda juvenile liaison officers, who are present in every Garda division in the country and have a central role working with young people throughout the youth diversion programme. Youth diversion not only helps the young person but also helps to make our communities safer by reducing the types of offending that can make people feel unsafe. More broadly, the Government is introducing a new approach to help communities put solutions in place to deal with their own specific safety concerns.

The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, recently commenced the landmark Policing, Security and Community Safety Act, which will provide for the establishment of local community safety partnerships throughout the country. These partnerships will bring together local stakeholders with Government agencies and An Garda Síochána to create a community safety plan tailored to their needs. The plans will assign ownership to the appropriate State body to address each concern, whether it be additional street cleaning, better public lighting by the local authority or increased Garda engagement in a particular area. Nobody understands the needs of a community better than the community itself, and these partnerships will complement the work of our youth diversion projects in providing accessible services that young people want to engage with. The Act also provides for a national office for community safety, and a function of this office is to provide training, guidance and support to these partnerships. In preparation for the establishment of the national office, a number of staff, including a director designate, have been appointed. These staff are engaging directly with local authorities and other stakeholders to support the establishment of the partnerships.These tailored approaches to community safety will address the specific needs of our young people, ensuring no one is left behind. By doing so, we will strengthen the fabric of our society and create a more inclusive environment where every young person has the chance to thrive.

The community safety fund run by the Department also plays a central role in supporting our communities. The fund was established in 2021 to reinvest money seized from the proceeds of crime in new innovative community safety projects, a number of which focus on youth justice and supporting young people in the community. It highlights the great work by An Garda Síochána and the Criminal Assets Bureau in identifying and seizing these ill-gotten gains. It puts that money back into local communities for the benefit and support of those who need it most.

We have seen incredible work by people throughout the country to improve the lives of our young people. It is a reflection that when it comes to our young people, it truly takes a village. Every young person deserves the opportunity to improve their quality of life. They deserve to have choices and to be enabled to make better life decisions. However, we cannot afford to be complacent. Too many children with complex backgrounds and needs still come to Garda attention. We must continue to focus on working with children already involved in crime and antisocial behaviour or who are at risk of being groomed by criminal gangs so that we can pull them back and give them a better pathway in life. I assure the House we will continue to strive to improve the quality of these children's lives and the lives of everyone in their communities in line with our youth justice strategy.

I thank the Cathaoirleach and all Senators for their contributions to this debate. As the Minister of State, I look forward to further engagement with them on this matter.

Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)
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That concludes statements on youth diversion. I welcome Rob Lahiffe, who works with the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, and guests to the Chamber. When is it proposed to sit again?

Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail)
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Tomorrow at 9.30 a.m.

Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.