Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 465: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of referrals by the Garda of minors to juvenile liaison officers for supervision for alcohol related offences for the period 2005 to date in 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10135/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Admission to the Juvenile Diversion Programme is covered under Part 4 (Sections 17-51) of the Children Act 2001 (as amended). Children may be admitted to the Juvenile Diversion Programme if they accept responsibility for their anti-social behaviour and consent to be cautioned and where appropriate supervised by a Juvenile Liaison Officer (JLO). Cautions are administered to every child admitted to the Programme (Section 25 of the Act) and may be in the form of a formal or informal caution. Formal cautions are given where (a) no previous caution has been administered, or (b) one or more than one informal or formal caution has been previously administered, and it was considered that the child's criminal or anti-social behaviour was of such a nature that it could not be dealt with by way of informal caution.

An informal caution is given where (a) no previous caution has been administered, or (b) one or more than one informal or formal caution has been previously administered, and it was considered that the child's criminal behaviour was not sufficiently serious to warrant a formal caution. Children given a formal caution are placed under the supervision of a JLO. I have been informed by the Garda Authorities that the number of referrals of minors to the Juvenile Diversion Programme for alcohol related offences for the period in question is as follows.

A child who has received an informal caution may also be placed under the supervision of a JLO. It has not been possible in the time available to establish the proportion of the referrals under informal caution which also entailed supervision by a JLO. The Garda Juvenile Diversion Programme has proven to be highly successful in diverting young persons away from crime by offering guidance and support to juveniles and their families. It also enables referral to the Garda Youth Diversion Projects which operate separately from the Programme and aim to divert young people away from crime and anti social behaviour. These Projects are community-based, multi-agency crime prevention initiatives which seek to divert young people from becoming involved, or further involved, in anti-social or criminal behaviour. There are currently 100 of these type of projects operating throughout the country and this number will be extended to 168 in line with the commitment in the Agreed Programme for Government.

I am committed to the ongoing expansion of the juvenile liaison scheme. As of 31 December 2007, the number of Garda Juvenile Liaison Officers (JLO) was 93, and the Garda Commissioner has given a commitment to appoint an additional 28 JLOs by 2010.