Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 5 February 2014
32. Deputy Ciara Conway asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of children engaged in the Garda diversion programme; the number with juvenile liasion officers; his plans to review and develop the programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53276/13]
View answerThe Diversion Programme operates in accordance with Part 4 of the Children Act 2001, as amended, and under the general superintendence and control of the Garda Commissioner. The objective of the Diversion Programme is to divert any child who accepts responsibility for his or her criminal or anti social behaviour from committing further offences or engaging in further anti social behaviour. This is done by way of administering a formal or informal caution, thus diverting the offender away from the courts and minimising the likelihood of further offending. The Programme embraces, whenever possible, the principles of restorative justice and the programme also pays regard to the needs of the victims of youth offending.
The Programme is supported by 100 Garda Youth Diversion Projects (GYDPs). These projects are nationwide, community-based, multi-agency crime prevention initiatives. The projects are run in partnership with An Garda Síochána and funded/overseen by my Department‘s unit within the Irish Youth Justice Service. These projects seek to divert young people from involvement in anti-social and/or criminal behaviour. Annual Reports of the Committee appointed to monitor the effectiveness of the Diversion Programme under Part 4 of the Children Act 2001, as amended, are published each year and are available on the website of the Irish Youth Justice Service (www.iyjs.ie). The reports include detailed statistics in relation to the operation of the Programme including details of the resources deployed by the Commissioner in relation to the Programme.
The 2012 Report, which was published recently, shows that 12,246 children were referred to the Programme in that year, down from 12,809 in 2011. Fifteen percent of the children (1,822) were deemed unsuitable for the Programme and their files were returned to the local Gardaí for possible prosecution. The report also shows that there were 123 Juvenile Liaison Officer (JLO) posts comprising of 115 Gardaí and 8 JLO Sergeants.
The Garda Juvenile Liaison Officer engages with the child offender in a variety of ways. The majority of children who are admitted to the Diversion Programme receive an informal caution. The informal caution generally does not involve a period of supervision by the JLO. Thus the interaction between the JLO and that child and family in this situation may be limited to one or two meetings. Children who receive a formal caution are placed under the supervision of a JLO. This will involve a series of meetings with the child and his or her family over a period of time up to 12 months.
With regard to development of the Programme, you may be aware that earlier this week, I along with my colleague the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, launched "Tackling Youth Crime - Youth Justice Action Plan 2014-2018". This Plan is also available on the Youth Justice website - www.iyjs.ie. The Plan sets out specific objectives addressing the development and use of diversion in the community. The range of initiatives being pursued include:
- improving the analysis of youth crime through the Garda Analysis Service,
- utilising our resources in areas of greatest need and to establish effective crime prevention supports in cooperation with other youth service providers nationwide.
- improving the effectiveness of the Garda Youth Diversion Projects by further development of focussed interventions which challenge and divert young people from offending behaviour;
- the alignment of Garda Youth Diversion Projects with youth offending hot spots and the maximising of links between the Diversion Programme and these projects.
Finally, it is important to state that the Diversion Programme has been shown to be successful in diverting young offenders away from crime by offering guidance and support to the young people and their families. As you will note from the Youth Justice Action Plan, Government is committed to continuing the development of the diversion approach. This is also reflected in the budget of the Community Programmes area of my Department which I have protected from cuts over the past few years.
