Opening Seanad Statements on Diverting Young People from Crime - Minister of State Niall Collins

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Cathaoirleach, Senators,

I welcome the opportunity to discuss efforts to divert our young people from crime.

At the core of our diversion efforts is the fact that every young person deserves the opportunity to improve their quality of life. We believe they deserve to have choices and to be enabled to make better life decisions for themselves.

Directly intervening to support our young people, especially those who are most at risk, is vital to build stronger and safer communities.

As the Minister of State, I am glad to have the opportunity to invest and further develop our youth justice services. The work I have engaged with since being appointed has filled with hope and optimism.

Our approach to youth justice in Ireland, informed by international standards, is that children in conflict with the law are still children.

They are entitled to dignity, respect and access to services that will promote their healthy engagement with their communities and wider society.

Youth justice interventions are not about young people avoiding punishment or consequences.

They are about recognising that many young people who stray from the proper path simply need support and direction to get their lives back on track.

That is why preventing offending behaviour and diverting children and young people from further involvement in the criminal justice system are at the heart of what we do.

Youth Justice Strategy

The Youth Justice Strategy is a forward-thinking plan designed to address the unique challenges faced by young people in Ireland. It is a commitment to the young people of Ireland and a promise to create a brighter, more equitable future for all.

At its core, it emphasises early intervention, prevention, family support, and community engagement.

The strategy is not just a plan on paper. It has tangible actions and objectives aimed at promoting positive behavioural change. It is our strategy to directly target problem behaviours to help us break the cycle of young people reoffending.

We are continuing to implement and evaluate our Youth Justice Strategy, which is now reaching its mid-way point.

And we have made a commitment in the Programme for Government to develop a successor at the end of our current strategy’s lifespan.

Youth Diversion

The first principle underpinning the Children’s Act is that children should be diverted from the criminal justice system where it is appropriate to do so, having considered the offending behaviour, the rights of the victim and the interest of society.

Diversion into the statutory Garda Youth Diversion Programme is the first option except in the case of serious crimes, or serious repeat offending.

The statutory Garda Programme is supported by a network of 93 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.

These community-based initiatives seek to divert young people who have become involved in crime and anti-social behaviour.

They also support wider preventative work within their communities, particularly with at-risk families.

We all know that there is no quick-fix solution to directing young offenders away from a life of crime.

However, these Youth Diversion Projects offer a responsive, empathetic road towards a better life for so many.

I have been fortunate enough to see first-hand the incredible work being done by people up and down the country in these projects.

Recently I visited the Limerick Youth Services YDP and the Moyross Youth Diversion Project in my home county and Clare Youth Service in Ennis.

These visits are great opportunities for me to meet both the staff and the participants in the project and hear their experiences.

Both projects do amazing work in their respective communities, responding to the changing needs of families who use their services.

The Moyross project for example operates a Scrambler initiative, which receives funding from my department.

This programme seeks to educate young people about the safe use of vehicles, as well as provide opportunities for motocross, personal development and educational activities.

Youth Diversion Projects offer a chance at a better, more fulfilling life.

Their work has been shown to have hugely positive impacts on these young people, their families and their community.

My department conducted a YDP evaluation which identified decreasing risk levels among participants in respect of peer relations, leisure and recreation, personality and behaviour, and attitudes and orientation.

It showed that young people who engage with YDPs were less involved in criminal or antisocial behaviour, had improved self-confidence and communication skills, had increased happiness, and an overall improved sense of hope.

Two new successful YDP applications have recently been commissioned in East Clare and North Tipperary.

I am delighted that when these projects are up and running before the end of the year we will have achieved full nationwide coverage of our Youth Diversion Programme.

This means that any child in the country who needs to avail of these services will be able to do so.

The evaluation highlighted many existing strengths of our YDPs, and the personnel working in these projects were recognised as being exceptionally important.

It found that they are experienced, highly-qualified and report strong levels of satisfaction in their work.

The report showed clear evidence that our youth justice workers have a hugely positive impact on these young people, their families and their communities.

As Minister I am immensely proud and thankful of the tremendous work each of them do for the young people of this country.

Youth Justice Funding

This expansion has been made possible by the unprecedented funding that has been allocated to youth justice services.

By investing in our youth, we are investing in the future of Ireland. We are building a society where young people can achieve their potential, positively impact their communities, and escape cycles of crime.

Funding for youth justice services has increased substantially from €18 million in 2020 to just over €36 million in Budget 2025.

It has also allowed for increased availability of these services at weekends and late at night, a key recommendation from my department’s evaluation.

It ensures that these vital services are made available when many young people need them most.

And it increases our supports for those young people who are hardest to reach and allows for early interventions for 8-11 year olds who may be at increased risk of becoming engaged in criminal activity.

All of this reflects our continued commitment to investing in our youth for the betterment of our communities.

We have also made a commitment to expanding these services to be available to 18-24 year olds.

We know from international research that a number of factors place young adults in this age group at a higher risk of becoming involved in criminal behaviour.

It is important to reach out to this age group and ensure they recognise that they will not be abandoned and left to fend for themselves when they officially become young adults as they turn 18.

Every cent that we invest in diverting young people away from the criminal justice system pays us back in spades.

It is also important to emphasise that 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.

Court accompaniment service

Another key area in which my department is supporting young people is through the development of a court accompaniment service for young offenders.

This service is being provided by the dedicated and skilled staff of YDPs alongside the court accompaniment services funded already for children as witnesses or victims of sexual crime.

This accompaniment is not an advocacy role, but rather is to explain in layperson’s terms what is happening at the various stages of the proceedings and to be there as a support for the defendant.

In the Children Court the service may provide the court with an alternative to proceeding to the hearing and a conviction.

Instead, the alternative would be to defer and to invite the young defendant to work with the Youth Diversion Project on the understanding that successful engagement with the YDP and a genuine commitment to a change of behaviour would be of real benefit to the defendant and allow a different conversation and conclusion when the case is relisted.

The initiative builds on relationships already developed between courts and individual YDPs in their areasand takes into account consultations with the Ombudsman for Children and the President of the District Court in July 2024.

Even in the most serious cases that come before the CCJ, this type of informal support by a professional Youth Justice Worker may be the catalyst for longer-term rehabilitation of the young offender.

Greentown

I want to take this opportunity also to highlight some other examples of our commitment to preventing young people getting drawn into crime, one of which is the Greentown Programme, established by my department in 2020.

The programme aims to reduce the influence of criminal networks on children at risk of involvement.

It also seeks to improve the likelihood of pro-social outcomes for children who are already involved in these criminal networks.

The Greentown Programme has been in place in two locations since 2021 and has now been extended for a further three years.

Over the last two years, there has been notable improvements in reducing the influence of criminal networks in the trial site communities.

Children and families are better enabled to withstand the powerful attraction of network membership and to make pro-social choices.

Grooming legislation

The programme also targets adults who seek to groom children into their criminal networks as one of its key pillars.

Reducing the susceptibility of the young people concerned to negative influence by criminal networks has laid positive foundations for greater concentration on the network disruption pillar over this second phase of the trial sites.

To further support this work legislation was introduced last year that makes it an offence for an adult to either force or encourage children to engage in any criminal activity.

Those found guilty of the offences under this Act may face imprisonment of up to 12 months on summary conviction and up to five years on indictment.

The legislation recognises the life-long impact and harm done to a child by drawing them into criminal activity.

We are unfortunately all too aware of the immensely damaging impact these organised crime gangs can have on communities.

This is yet another key step as we strive to deliver on our commitment to criminalise those who target some of the most vulnerable in our society, our children and young people, in order to commit offences.

Thank you Cathaoirleach and I look forward to now hearing contributions of members.