2334. Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration his plans to expand capacity within the criminal justice system to deal effectively with youth delinquency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61626/26]

2345. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the national initiatives, programmes or strategies are currently in place to address male-to-male violence among adolescents and young adults; the bodies responsible for delivering such initiatives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59875/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 2334 and 2345 together.

The Children Act 2001, and the Government’s approach to addressing youth offending is rooted in the principle that detention of young people should only be used as a measure of last resort.

The focus on diversion and early interventions is a keystone in the Youth Justice Strategy 2021-2027. The strategy emphasises early intervention, prevention, family support and community engagement. It is aimed at promoting positive behavioural change and targeting this behaviour so that we can break the cycle of offending by young people.

While this principle underpins the approach to youth offending, it does not mean that young people do not face consequences when they engage in offending behaviour.

To address and prevent youth crime, the Government operates a graduated response, ranging from diversion to detention. As offending increases in severity, so too does the criminal justice response to address youth crime.

My Department has, in recent years, significantly increased the funding for youth justice initiatives; the budget allocation for youth justice measures has almost doubled from 2020 to 2026, and the total allocation is now €43 million. With these funds, Youth Diversion Projects employ dedicated youth justice workers who respond daily to the needs of young people across the country; over 570 full-time equivalent youth justice workers have been recruited in recent years. Every young person in Ireland now has access to a youth diversion service.

There are currently 92 Youth Diversion Projects and 4 Targeted Youth Diversion Projects. The programmes offered by these YDPs primarily provide young people between the ages of 12 and 17 years with suitable activities to facilitate their personal development, promote civic responsibility, encourage pro-social behaviour in their communities and improve their educational outcomes and long-term employability prospects.

The minimum core ‘package’ for a YDP includes two youth justice workers, together with what may be appropriate in the specific locality: a family support youth justice worker, an early intervention youth justice worker, an outreach youth justice worker to engage with harder-to-reach young people, and a team leader where the number of other staff requires such a post. My Department funds these posts based on the needs, size and population base of each YDP catchment area, and as feasible given the annual budget allocation.

My Department recently commissioned the development of a toolkit to provide support for youth justice workers in addressing harmful masculinity norms and discouraging male-to-male violence among adolescents and young adults. This will be an evidence-informed training programme and tools for youth justice workers in Youth Diversion Projects and Targeted Youth Diversion Projects.

These resources are intended to support them in navigating difficult topics with young people engaged in their services, specifically themes of masculinity, racism, radicalisation/far-right extremism and misogyny/gendered violence in both online and offline dimensions. This toolkit will be developed over the course of 2026 in collaboration with the Dublin City University Observatory on Cyberbullying, Cyberhate and Online Harassment and the University of Limerick Research Evidence into Policy, Programmes and Practice (REPPP) team. The toolkit’s design will allow for application in the youth justice sphere, and also across a wide variety of organisations, agencies and institutions (e.g. youth clubs, schools, etc.) that engage with children and young people on a regular basis.

While effective in their work, there are some young people who are not suitable for diversion through a Youth Diversion Project, based on either the severity of their crimes or if they fail to accept responsibility for their offending.

In such cases, An Garda Síochána refers these young people to the Director of Public Prosecutions. If prosecuted, the Courts can then determine if the young person should engage with the Bail Supervision Scheme (available in Cork, Dublin and Limerick) to prevent reoffending while on remand. Where a child is convicted, there a range of options available to the Court ranging from community sanctions, supervision by the Probation Service, and where necessary, detention in Oberstown Children Detention Campus. All of these interventions continue to focus on rehabilitation, addressing the underlying causes of the offending behaviour and breaking the cycle of crime.