Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

513. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the extent to which the JLO service is available throughout County Kildare; the extent of any anticipated improvements in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27411/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of personnel among the Garda Regions, Divisions and Districts. Garda management keep this distribution under continuing review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities so as to ensure that the best possible use is made of these resources.

I have however been informed by the Garda Commissioner that there are three Garda JLO's attached to the Kildare Garda Division as of 30 April 2014, the latest date for which figures are readily available. Community Programmes Unit, IYJS, Department of Justice and Equality funds two Garda Youth Diversion Projects in Kildare. The Bridge Project in Celbridge engaged approximately 35 young people in 2013. The Curragh-Newbridge project engaged approximately 40 participants in 2013. These projects are managed by Kildare Youth Services (KYS). In 2013, the total grant paid to KYS (comprising core and ESF payments) was €211,500.

There are 100 Garda Youth Diversion Projects (GYDP) nationwide. They are community-based, multi-agency crime prevention initiatives, funded by the IYJS, which seek to divert young people from becoming involved in anti-social and/or criminal behaviour. They operate as a support to the Garda Diversion Programme. 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 project. 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.

Community Programmes also operates the European Social Fund (ESF) part-funded Human Capital Investment Programme which has the specific purpose to increase the capacity of project participants to find employment.