Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I welcome the Minister for Justice, Deputy O'Callaghan back to the House. We could give him the title of honorary Senator he has been here so many times this week. The first Commencement matter is from Senator Maria McCormack.

Maria McCormack (Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I am delighted the Minister is back in this House. I am deeply troubled by what I am witnessing in our community in Laois and surrounding counties. I am not alone in this concern. Over the past week, I have received numerous calls from frightened and frustrated residents who feel like prisoners in their own homes, living in fear of reckless behaviour and repeat offending. One constituent said to me that the State is absent when it is needed most.

This issue is all over our local media, including the Laois Nationalist. What has pushed this into the national spotlight is the extraordinary comments made by Judge Andrew Cody in Portlaoise District Court last week. He said, "The Government is failing to protect the citizens of the State." This is a damning verdict from one of our own judges, a judge, who, in fairness, has been forced to watch the same cohort of young offenders appear before him week after week, having committed crime after crime with no meaningful consequence, no available detention space and no sign of urgency from the Government. Judge Cody went further saying:

There is a core to this gang here in Portlaoise who continue to commit crimes without any fear of recrimination. They do so because they know the courts, the gardaí and society have been handcuffed, while they walk free.

These are children, some as young as 14, stealing cars, tearing through our streets, driving the wrong way down the M7, smashing up businesses, destroying public property and uploading it all on TikTok for clout. It is being glamorised. It is being encouraged and we are being humiliated. Judge Cody was clear. The Garda and the courts are doing their best but he said the ultimate sanction and deterrent of imprisonment has been taken away because Oberstown Children Detection Centre is full.

This week, gardaí arrived with a court order to place two of these teenagers in custody. They waited 25 minutes at the gate of Oberstown only to be told that it was full. They were handed a sealed letter and told to bring the teenagers back to the Garda station. What message does that send? What message does it send to the victims, the public and the perpetrators? We are witnessing the complete breakdown of a youth justice system, not due to the negligence of the Garda or the Judiciary but due to Government failure. There are simply no places left to put these young people in when they offend, and the crime continues. As Judge Cody said, these youths have done so in a shocking and dangerous manner without any regard for their own or anyone else's lives. The lesson being learned by these juveniles is that they can continue to commit crime without any consequences.

This just cannot go on. I am calling for immediate action, including the emergency expansion of Oberstown or the provision of temporary regional youth detention facilities; a full Government-led response to organised youth crime because that is on the increase, day in, day out, particularly the grooming and recruitment tactics of gangs targeting vulnerable children; proper resourcing for gardaí to respond to these escalating crimes, including youth-specific detention and intervention units; and investment in diversion and early intervention programmes, not after the tenth arrest but when the first warning signs emerge. This is not about locking children away and forgetting about them; this is about creating a system that deters dangerous behaviour, protects the public and offers real structured rehabilitation, not TikTok fame. We need action. We do not need apologies. We need beds, not sealed letters, and we need justice, not headlines.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank Senator McCormack for raising this matter. It is a great honour for me to be back in the Seanad and I hope to be here frequently. I wish to advise that, within my Department, I am delegating responsibility for youth crime to the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins. Notwithstanding that, it is an extremely important issue and I welcome the opportunity to respond to what the Senator has to say.

In terms of the judge's comments, it is important that people are fully aware of the penalties that can be imposed on children who are convicted of offences before the court. The Senator is correct in noting that the ultimate sanction is detention. However, under section 98 of the Children Act, other options are available to the courts, in particular sanctions that can be imposed upon parents or guardians. That is something that the courts need to look at more. You can find yourself in a situation, however, where a child is just not amenable to any sanction from a court or, indeed, his or her parents and where it is regrettably appropriate for the child to be detained.

The Senator is correct in what she said about Oberstown but it is not completely full. Five or six spaces are kept available for girl offenders as opposed to boy offenders. An indication of the difference between offending between sexes is that the spaces for girl offenders generally are not occupied. The boy offender sections are full.

I am extremely concerned about this matter and, because of that, I had a meeting last week with the Minister for children, Deputy Foley. We discussed what could be done to increase capacity at Oberstown. She will reflect on that to see what can be done. Obviously, some individuals can be released from Oberstown, thereby providing spaces. However, I am fully aware that unless there is the prospect of a custodial sanction being imposed, in the infrequent occasion that it is necessary, then the courts and the Garda can find themselves in a situation with juvenile delinquents where there appears to be no sanction in respect of it.

There are other options available to try to stop children continuing on the pathway of criminality. We are doing a disservice to children unless we try to correct their behaviour at that stage. If a child is involved in criminal behaviour at the age of 15, 16 or 17 years, then there is a strong likelihood that, by the time he or she gets to 18, that individual will be continuing with that behaviour and finally find himself or herself in prison immediately. There is a responsibility on us to try to divert children. That is why the youth diversion programme is useful. As the Senator will know, the youth diversion programme operates in Laois. We have 93 youth diversion programmes, with two operating in Laois. They are the Acorn project, which is operated by Youth Work Ireland Midlands, and LOOP which is operated by Foróige.

It is a complicated issue, as the Senator will appreciate, to know what to do with children who break criminal law. However, we need to focus more on the interests of the community and individuals who are the victims of that criminal behaviour. It is not much comfort to them to know that the offender is under 18 years of age.

I am looking at Oberstown. I have discussed it with the Minister, Deputy Foley. We need to provide more spaces. Since our population is increasing, we are inevitably going to need more spaces in prison and youth detention centres. That is incompatible with another ambition and policy I have, that being, to try to make community sanctions available for the purpose of a penalty being imposed.

Maria McCormack (Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Minister and appreciate that he gives a thorough response every time he is here. I agree that we need to consider diversion and engage better with the youth diversion services but the issue of youth crime reached crisis point in Laois this week when there was no option and people felt that the youths got away free. There was no deterrent, leading to uproar in the community because so much car theft and other criminality was going on under our noses.

There is work to be done. I am delighted that the Minister is looking at Oberstown to see how we can move forward on this. I hope that lots of investment and time are put into people at a young age to deter them from crime.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

It is important that the Judiciary is aware of the options available under section 98 of the Children Act 2001. There are more options available other than simply a custodial sentence. I agree with the Senator that, on occasion, a custodial sentence is appropriate but the imposition of a sanction on the parent or guardian, or the imposition of an order requiring the parent or a guardian to be bound over, can also have an impact. These are sanctions that need to be given consideration.

I am aware of the issues that are of concern to the Senator and An Garda Síochána. I will continue to engage with the Minister, Deputy Foley, in respect of Oberstown. There is limited space there and, as the population increases, we are regrettably finding ourselves having to deal with more delinquent children. We are doing them a disservice unless we try to divert them and, regrettably, a custodial sanction is necessary on some occasions.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I welcome the children from sixth class in the Ranelagh Multi-Denominational School. Their visit is timely because we have present their local TD, namely, the Minister for Justice, Jim O'Callaghan. It is great to see young people here and I hope they enjoy their day in the Oireachtas.