Ministers Fitzgerald and Shatter welcome the publication of ‘Tackling Crime’: Youth Justice Action Plan 2014 – 2018

The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald TD and Minister for Justice and Equality, Alan Shatter TD, today welcomed the publication of the Youth Justice Action Plan 2014-2018.

The focus for the Action Plan is to continue the downward trends in high volume crime and reduce the necessity for detention. Since the first National Youth Justice Strategy commenced in 2008, the number of children sentenced to detention by the Courts on criminal conviction has consistently dropped; the operational costs of detention have reduced by over 30%; the capital costs and space required in the new national detention facilities being built at Oberstown are approx. 50% of what was estimated in 2008 and youth crime has fallen.

Minister Fitzgerald said “For the critical few requiring secure care and therapeutic intervention, detention facilities will be delivered to the highest standard. I am determined to deliver on the Programme for Government commitment to end the practice of detaining children in adult prison facilities. Already, we have ended the detention of 16 year old boys in adult prisons. This Government has grasped the challenge of ensuring that proper facilities will be available in a suitable setting by committing over €50 million to the development of the new national children’s detention facility (NCDF) campus at Oberstown. I am happy that the first of these new facilities will be delivered in the 3rd Quarter, 2014”.

Minister Shatter said “This Action Plan aims to change behaviour by using the available evidence in developing interventions with children in the youth justice system. Importantly, the voice and experiences of children involved in the youth justice system have influenced the development of these interventions. The pro-active engagement by the Irish Youth Justice Service and partners in the criminal justice agencies in the development of this Action Plan, such as An Garda Síochána, Courts Service and Probation Service and with the services in health, education and welfare systems and the community and voluntary sector, is testament to the joined up Government approach to the promotion of integrated policy and service delivery in respect of these vulnerable children.”

The Youth Justice Action Plan 2014-2018 will form part of the National Anti-Crime Strategy being developed by the Department of Justice and Equality as part of the White Paper on Crime process, with its focus on crime reduction and safer communities. It will also form part of the Children and Young People’s Policy Framework (CYPPF) being developed in the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, with its focus on better outcomes for children and families.

Data will increasingly determine how resources are prioritised, including the means to maximise the coverage of Garda Youth Diversion Projects (GYDPs) nationwide. Research studies, such as levels of compliance with community sanctions; identification of the progression routes for certain children into serious crime; study of children’s pathways into detention; and the tracking of levels of recidivism will inform both targeted interventions and strategy in the youth justice system.

The Youth Justice Service Action Plan 2014-2018 will be monitored by a steering group, chaired by the Director of the Irish Youth Justice Service, and comprise senior representatives of the key stakeholders who will report, in due course, through the oversight mechanisms of the National Anti-Crime Strategy and the Children and Young People’s Policy Framework as appropriate.

A copy of the Action Plan is available on the Irish Youth Justice Service website: www.iyjs.ie