2215. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of young persons referred to and accepted onto the Garda Youth Diversion Programme in connection with offences involving unprovoked assaults in each of the past ten years; the age and gender profile of those referred; the county or Garda division in which the incidents occurred; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59918/26]

Part 4 of the Children Act 2001 provides the statutory basis for the Garda Youth Diversion Programme. The intention of this programme is to divert children, aged 12-17 years old, who have engaged in criminal or anti-social behaviour away from the criminal justice system towards more positive pro-social behaviour and break the cycle of offending.

Young people who are deemed suitable by the Director of the Garda Youth Diversion Programme are referred to local youth diversion projects, where, in collaboration with a Garda Juvenile Liaison Officer, these projects provide supports to children to address their offending behaviour, engage in positive self-development, and connect with their communities.

While there has been an approximate 25% increase in the population of 12-17 year olds over the past ten years, the number or children coming to the attention of the Garda National Youth Diversion Bureau has remained steady, pointing to an actual reduction in youth offending.

The Garda authorities have advised me that they are not in a position to identify whether assaults were provoked or not. As such, the Garda authorities have provided data related to the crime types of ‘Assault Causing Harm’ and ‘Assault Minor’.

The table below outlines the number of children referred to and accepted on to the Garda Youth Diversion programme for incidents relating to ‘assault causing harm’ and ‘assault minor’ for each year between 2016 – 2025.

I have sought the requested information in respect of the age profile of referrals and I will forward this information to the Deputy when I have it to hand.

According to Garda data, 75% of referrals under the two categories, namely ‘Assault Minor’ and ‘Assault Causing Harm’ from 2016 – 2025, were male, and 25% were female.

The Divisional and Regional breakdown is a large table and for ease of presentation that data has been attached to this answer as an Excel file with the title ‘Children referred to the Garda Youth Diversion Programme for incidents relating to assault causing harm and assault minor from 2016 – 2025 by Garda Region-Division’

The Garda National Youth Diversion Bureau publish annual reports on the Effectiveness of the Diversion Programme and these reports are publicly available from the Garda website at: www.garda.ie/en/crime-prevention/garda-national-youth-diversion-bureau/annual-reports-of-the-committee-appointed-to-monitor-the-effectiveness-of-the-diversion-programme/annual-report-of-the-committee-appointed-to-monitor-the-effectiveness-of-the-diversion-programme.html.

Children referred to the Garda Youth Diversion Programme for incidents relating to assault causing harm and assault minor from 2016 – 2025 by Garda Region/Division

* Any figures lower than 10 are not published and are denoted tables as (<10). In certain instances, other figures may have to be withheld to avoid the disclosure of volumes less than 10. These are denoted with an asterisk (*) symbol.