Dáil Éireann Debate, Monday - 11 September 2023
1238. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice to provide, in tabular form, the number of professional youth workers currently employed in each county, as funded under the Garda youth diversion projects programme, with a separate breakdown to cover each Garda district. [39275/23]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, Youth Diversion Projects (YDPs) are community based, multi-agency crime prevention initiatives, which seek to divert young people who have become involved in crime/anti-social behaviour and to support wider preventative work within the community and with families at risk. YDPs act as a vital support to the statutory Garda Youth Diversion Programme.
The objectives of the Youth Diversion Programme are to:
• promote focused and effective interventions to challenge and divert young people from offending behaviour;
• utilise YDP resources in areas of greatest need and to establish effective crime prevention supports in co-operation with other youth service providers nationwide;
• actively promote crime prevention policy through focussed educational interventions influencing positive development of young people towards becoming responsible citizens.
Funding for these interventions is based on evidence that diverting young offenders from the criminal justice system, and preventative work with young people at risk, is to their long-term benefit and that of society as a whole.
Youth Diversion Projects are co-funded by the Irish Government and European Social Fund as part of the ESF+ Programme 2021-2027.
The Youth Justice Strategy 2021 - 2027 commits to the expansion of the Youth Diversion Projects and establishment of a small number of new Projects, so that every child or young person in the State who could benefit from this service can access it. This includes the establishment of 4 new Projects.
We are also exploring, alongside other statutory bodies that provide youth services, pilots for a number of joint-commissioned Projects. This new type of YDP brings together services from across the public sector to enhance the service provided to young people and to ensure a 'no wrong door' approach. All of these are aimed at ensuring that programmes and interventions are as effectively designed and targeted as possible to support those children and young people (and their families) who experience particular disadvantage and are more at risk with respect to offending behaviour.
It should be noted that YDPs do not operate within defined Garda District/Division boundaries and some overlap of the reach of the Projects between Districts/Divisions may occur. Therefore YDPs based in particular areas may overlap into surrounding Districts/Divisions. As a result, a breakdown by Garda District is unavailable.
The below table shows the number of Whole Time Equivalent Youth Workers in the YDPs by county.
|
County |
DOJ Funded YDP Workers at Sep 2023 |
|
Carlow |
3.00 |
|
Cavan |
6.00 |
|
Clare |
5.00 |
|
Cork |
38.30 |
|
Donegal |
10.60 |
|
Dublin |
191.66 |
|
Galway |
13.00 |
|
Kerry |
14.00 |
|
Kildare |
12.40 |
|
Kilkenny |
2.00 |
|
Laois |
8.00 |
|
Limerick |
26.80 |
|
Longford |
8.00 |
|
Louth |
15.50 |
|
Mayo |
4.00 |
|
Meath |
16.70 |
|
Monaghan |
4.00 |
|
Offaly |
9.00 |
|
Roscommon |
2.00 |
|
Tipperary |
14.50 |
|
Waterford |
15.00 |
|
Westmeath |
7.00 |
|
Wexford |
9.50 |
|
Wicklow |
8.00 |
|
Sligo/Leitrim |
3.00 |
|
Total |
446.96 |
