Minister Collins visits Moyross Youth Diversion Programme
-
From: Department of Justice
- Published on: 11 April 2025
- Last updated on: 12 April 2025
Minister of State with responsibility for Youth Justice, Niall Collins, has visited a number of Justice agencies across Limerick City and County, including:
- Legal Aid Board
- Probation and Linkage in Limerick Scheme (PALLS)
- Limerick Youth Services
- Adapt Domestic Violence Services
- Moyross Youth Diversion Project
This was an opportunity for Minister Collins to meet with staff and the local communities and to see first-hand the important work being done to support people in the area.
Visiting the services Minister Collins said:
“These organisations play a vital role in supporting, guiding and providing opportunities for people across Limerick. Their work makes a real difference in helping those in need to make positive life choices and builds stronger, safer communities.
“The Programme for Government sets out an ambitious agenda to ensure that our justice system is modern, efficient, and responsive to the needs of all of our people.
"Those aims were reflected in the services visited today that emphasise that justice is not only solely concerned with tackling crime and enforcing laws, but it is also about building a society where justice is accessible, where victims are supported with dignity and compassion, and where communities are empowered to thrive. Preventive measures in areas such as youth justice and domestic and sexual violence need to be prioritised, in order to break the cycle of crime before it begins.”
Ireland’s Youth Justice Strategy (2021-2027) is a forward-thinking plan designed to address the unique challenges faced by young people in Ireland. At its core, it emphasizes early intervention, prevention, family support, and community engagement in a multidisciplinary approach to youth justice.
While the focus of the strategy is very much on children in contact with the justice system, it also examines more closely why a proportion of young offenders go on to become adult offenders and how this can be better addressed.
The Minister added:
“We know that Youth Diversion works. At the time of the introduction of the Children Act 2001, some 30,000 children committed crimes each year. By 2016 that had reduced to 10,000 approximately. This decline has continued, in 2023, the most recent year for which official figures are available, the figure was 7,843.
"The work of Limerick Youth Services and the targeted intervention programmes like those in Moyross YDP have played a significant role in this decline.”
The recent announcement of two new YDPs in East Clare and North Tipperary will achieve the target as set out in the Youth Justice Strategy of full national coverage of YDPs, ensuring that a service is available to every young person who needs it. There are currently 93 YDPs throughout the State and the Youth Services budget has risen from €18 million in 2020, to just over €36 million in 2025.
Notes
Youth Diversion Projects
Children who commit crimes are prosecuted only as the last resort, with diversion into the statutory Garda Youth Diversion Programme being the default option except in the case of serious crimes, or serious repeat offending. The statutory Garda Youth Diversion Programme is managed and supported by a network of over 100 Youth Diversion Projects, each of which is managed by a community-based organisation (CBO), which may be a youth services or a local community resource centre.
The commitments in the Youth Justice Strategy include enhancing and strengthening the role of YDPs and extending the service to a number of areas not already covered so as to ensure that the service is available throughout the State within the next two years.
Access the Youth Justice Strategy 2021-27.