Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 December 2004
209 Mr. J. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the progress made in commencing and implementing all provisions of the Children Act 2001; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33823/04]
View answer210 Mr. J. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the resources which have been made available for the implementation and operation of the Children Act 2001; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33824/04]
View answer211 Mr. J. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the impact which the Children Act 2001 will have on curbing the activities of young offenders and preventing them from embarking on a life of crime; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33825/04]
View answer212 Mr. J. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the way in which the restorative justice aspects of the Children Act 2001 are operating; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33826/04]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 209 to 212, inclusive, together.
The Children Act 2001 is very complex and comprehensive legislation and, for those reasons, provisions under the Act are being implemented on a phased basis, as was envisaged at the time of enactment.
Responsibility for implementing the Children Act 2001 lies with three Departments. The Departments of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and Education and Science have responsibilities in respect of juvenile offending. The Department of Health and Children has responsibilities in respect of children who are non-offending but out of control. The National Children's Office is co-ordinating the cross departmental aspects of the implementation of the Act.
As regards the areas that fall within my areas of responsibility I can advise the Deputy that part 4 of the Children Act 2001 commenced on 1 May 2002, at which time the Garda diversion programme began operating on a statutory basis. Garda youth diversion projects are crime prevention initiatives which adopt a multi-agency partnership approach to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour at community level. The role of the Garda youth diversion projects is 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.
Through a combination of intervention and prevention programmes, Garda youth diversion projects aim to prevent crime through community and multi-agency co-operation and to improve the quality of life within the community; divert young people from becoming involved in criminal and-or anti-social behaviour; provide suitable activities to facilitate personal development and encourage civic responsibility; and support and improve Garda-community relations.
Project co-ordinators and advisory-management committees are required to regularly review and assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the projects to ensure every effort is made to meet the overall aims and objectives of the project. The projects are particularly targeted at 12-8 year old "at risk" youths in communities where a specific need has been identified. The number of participants in each programme varies according to the level of intervention required.
There are 64 Garda youth diversion projects operating in both urban and rural areas at present.
One of the primary aims of the Children Act is to expand the options a court will have at its disposal when deciding on how to deal with a young offender. The community-based options provided for in the Act will allow effect to be given to the principle that detention for young offenders will be a last resort. Thus, the Act generally envisages committals to custody of young offenders being availed of only in situations where other alternative diversions and community-based options have been resorted to and have failed.
The successful and full implementation of the community based options in the Act will require a very significant input from the probation and welfare service. While it has not yet been possible to implement these provisions in full, I have secured 30 additional staff specifically for the probation and welfare service to implement those provisions of the Act relevant to the service, notwithstanding the public service recruitment embargo.
The probation and welfare service, as part of its planning for implementation of the Children Act 2001, engaged trainers from the Department of Child, Youth and Family, New Zealand, for the intensive training of all professional staff as facilitators for family conferences to be convened and managed in accordance with the requirements of the Act as well as providing day seminars for all probation and welfare officers. The service will provide ongoing training through its staff development unit as required.
The restorative justice aspects of the Children Act 2001 have been commenced in full and are operating very effectively. Restorative justice is a philosophical framework which considers the ways in which crime harms relationships in the context of the community. It is a way of dealing with victims and offenders by focusing on the settlement of conflicts arising from crime and resolving the underlying problems which cause it.
The court directed family conferencing provisions of the Act, section 78-87, be placed on a statutory basis on 29 July 2004. The family conference is convened by the probation and welfare service and the convening of the conference is directed by the court where it considers that the preparation of an action plan would be desirable in an individual case. The courts have directed the convening of 11 family conferences since commencement.
Section 26 of the Act provides for restorative cautioning, which provides the victim to be present at the administration of a formal caution to a child by a member of the Garda Síochána under the Garda juvenile diversion programme. This form of cautioning will allow for a discussion during which the child will have to confront the effects of his or her behaviour and, perhaps, may be invited to apologise and make some form of reparation.
Sections 29-51 of the Act provide for the convening of a conference in respect of a child who has been formally cautioned and is being supervised by a Garda juvenile liaison officer. The conference will have a remit to examine the child's problems, reasons for offending, etc., and will be able to discuss how the child might, through family support and community involvement, be diverted from crime, perhaps through the formulation of an action plan. The conference may be convened only on the decision of the director of the Garda national juvenile office, and the conference facilitator must be a member of the Garda Síochána.
The provisions concerning the age of criminal responsibility and children detention centres for 16 and 17 year old offenders have not yet been brought into force. Under the Children Act, I, as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, will be obliged to provide separate detention facilities for 16 and 17 year old males and females who are committed to custody by the courts either on remand or under sentence. The provision of appropriate custodial facilities is a priority for the Irish Prison Service. The primary objective of these detention centres will be to provide a secure but supportive environment in which young offenders can develop the personal and social skills necessary to avoid future offending.
In line with this, a new facility for male juveniles in this age group will open at St. Patrick's Institution in the near future. This unit, which was designed by a multi-disciplinary team, will include a custom-designed facility for the delivery of education, recreation, medical and therapeutic services. The longer-term provision of a dedicated facility on a greenfield site for juveniles, with separate facilities for males and females, is now being pursued in consultation with the director general of the Irish Prison Service and the Office of Public Works.
