Vol. 563 No. 2
146 Ms Lynch asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the total number of juvenile liaison officers in the Garda; his plans to extend the scheme in view of the proven success of it in dealing with juvenile offenders; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7336/03]
I am informed by the Garda authorities that the Garda juvenile diversion programme is administered from the national juvenile office, Garda community relations section, under the supervision of a Garda superintendent who directs the office. The office has a complement of one inspector, two sergeants and four civilian staff. I am further informed that the juvenile diversion programme is delivered by 86 specially selected and trained gardaí who work from various Garda stations throughout the country.
The Garda juvenile diversion programme provides that in certain circumstances a juvenile under 18 years of age who freely accepts responsibility for a criminal incident may be cautioned as an alternative to prosecution. The Children Act 2001 placed this programme on a statutory footing and the relevant sections in Part 4 of the Act were commenced in May 2002. Before this, the programme operated on the principle of Garda discretion on whether or not to prosecute. Part 4 of the Children Act 2001 introduced the concepts of restorative justice, specifically restorative cautioning and restorative conferencing, to the juvenile diversion programme. A review is currently taking place within the Garda of the human resource and equipment implications of the introduction of the Children Act. I understand that this review, which is near completion, will address the issue of appointing extra Garda juvenile liaison officers.
