Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide data in relation to juvenile crime, youth diversion and anti social behaviour orders in an area (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5159/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Annual Reports of the Committee appointed to monitor the effectiveness of the Diversion Programme under Part 4 of the Children Act 2001, as amended, include details of the number of incidents of youth crime and the number of individual children referred to the Programme each year. This information is broken down by Garda Region and Division. The reports for period 2004 -2011 are available on the website of the Irish Youth Justice Service (www.iyjs.ie). The specific location information is not available.

Supporting the statutory Diversion Programme, my Department, through the Irish Youth Justice Service administers the Garda Youth Diversion Projects (GYDPs) which are nationwide, community-based, multi-agency crime prevention initiatives run by An Garda Síochána and funded by the Irish Youth Justice Service in my Department. These projects seek to divert young people from becoming involved in anti-social and/or criminal behaviour. The GYDPs are designed to engage with young people who have been identified as being at risk of involvement in criminal or anti-social behaviour. They aim to bring about the conditions whereby the behavioural patterns of young people towards law and order can develop and mature through positive interventions and interaction with the projects. The projects are particularly targeted at 12-17 year old “at risk” youths in communities where a specific need has been identified and where there is a risk of them remaining within the justice system. There are two such projects in the Kildare area operated by the Kildare Youth Services and statistics for these are as follows:

2011 Stats from Kildare Youth Service

In the case of anti-social behaviour the diversion process includes the incremental use of warnings, good behaviour contracts and anti-social behaviour orders, where appropriate. There was 1 anti-social behaviour warning issued in Kildare in 2012.

Tackling youth crime continues to be a key priority for this Government as set out in the Programme for Government. I am committed to continuing the Diversion Programme and this is reflected in the 2013 budget which remains similar to 2012.