Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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144. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to strengthen and expand the Garda youth diversion programme in the coming years, particularly in areas with consistently high referral rates; if additional resources will be allocated to youth diversion projects to support early intervention and prevention efforts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24876/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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Through the Programme for Government and the Youth Justice Strategy, I am committed to improving outcomes for young people at risk of a life of criminality through investment in youth justice services. The Children Act 2001 provides the legislative framework for youth justice in Ireland. The Act provides for a criminal justice regime appropriate to the particular needs of children and facilitates their rehabilitation and reintegration into society.

The Garda Youth Diversion Programme is provided for in the Act. The Diversion Programme is supported by a network of Youth Diversion Projects (YDPs). YDPs are community-based multi-agency crime prevention initiatives, which seek to divert young people who have become involved in crime and anti-social behaviour and to support wider preventative work within the community and with families at risk.

It is important to note that diversion does not mean avoiding consequences. Rather, a diversion system can provide a second chance and enable people to avoid prosecution, and a criminal record.

YDPs 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. They are primarily 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.Funding for YDPs and other Youth Justice measures has increased substantially in recent years, from €18 million in 2020 to a total allocation of just over €36 million in Budget 2025. This will facilitate an increase in the availability of YDP services in the evenings and at the weekends when many young people need them the most, as well as an increase in supports for families, interventions for typically hard-to-reach young people and early interventions for 8-11 year olds who may be at increased risk of becoming engaged in criminal activity.

Considerable progress has been made to extend the YDP network throughout the State. Two new YDPs have been approved for East Clare and North Tipperary. Once these new projects are up and running there will be full nationwide YDP coverage, ensuring any child who needs access to their service can get it, no matter what part of the country they are in.

While the emphasis of the Government’s Youth Justice Strategy is on diverting young people from crime, it is important to recognise that the Diversion Programme is not suitable in all cases. The Children’s Act requires that all child offenders be considered for diversion, with prosecution only for serious offences or prolific reoffending. 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 is considered on its merits.