Gino Kenny on National Youth Justice Strategy: Resources, Scramblers, Drugs
Gino Kenny welcomed the debate on the National Youth Justice Strategy and said implementation, not just the document, is crucial. He praised community-based responses to scrambler misuse and youth diversion but warned that resource cuts and grooming into drug distribution are undermining outcomes.
Support for the strategy
The deputy described the strategy as a good document whose success depends on implementation. He commended Deputy Brown for promoting a community approach to the misuse of scramblers and highlighted local initiatives where enthusiastic young people have applied for funding and are bringing peers into positive activities.
Resource concerns and legacy cuts
The deputy warned that the strategy’s ambitions hinge on resourcing. He said that cutbacks during the economic crisis of 2008, 2009 and 10 led to major reductions in youth services - he estimated over 50% of cuts - and that many services are still recovering from that legacy.
Local youth pressures in Lucan and Newcastle
He pointed to demographic pressures in areas such as Lucan and Newcastle where many new houses and a large youth population create high demand for youth services. Local agencies, he said, have limited resources and cannot engage the volume of young people they are trained to support.
Crime, grooming and the Greentown initiative
The deputy welcomed the Greentown initiative critique as relevant to young people being drawn into serious criminality. He warned that children as young as 12 or 13 are being groomed by adults into distributing drugs - including selling crack cocaine to adults - and described that pattern as a deeply worrying, hard-to-reverse problem.
Praise for diversion projects and recommended approach
He praised the Garda Youth Diversion project and community football schemes such as mid-light leagues for steering young people away from anti-social activity. He argued for a youth-work and diversion approach - citing examples from Scandinavia - rather than a primarily criminal-justice or policing response, and urged not to demonise young people but to engage them positively for better outcomes.
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Obviously I welcome the debate today in relation to the National Youth Justice Strategy. I think it's a good document, but like documents, its implementation is the most important thing. And I'd like to commend Deputy Brown in relation to the community approach, in relation to the misuse of scramblers in particular areas, and that kind of, there is a particular problematic issue around scramblers in where I live. And I think a holistic approach, an approach that kind of turns an anti-social activity into a pro-social activity is a very, very good strategy. And hopefully it works out, because I know a number of young people that have put an application in relation to funding, and they're very, very enthusiastic, really enthusiastic. And you know, when that happens, then they bring other young people in with them. But obviously, Minister, this all depends on resources. And the strategy of dealing with legacy issues, such as marginalisation, inequality and disadvantage, wasn't obviously in the document. And obviously it's a different kind of remit. And then kind of cutbacks were kind of very kind of evident in the economical crisis of 2008, 2009 and 10 and afterwards. And I think over 50% of cuts were made to youth services over that time. And still, to this day, youth services are trying to recover from them cuts. Now, they have clawed back a good percentage of them, but still there is still huge kind of legacy issues in relation to that. Because if you don't have the resources, then it's going to be very, very difficult to engage with young people. And just particularly, say, in Lucan. Lucan has one of the biggest youth populations in Ireland, if not Europe. So this is a demographic. There's a lot of young people, a lot of new houses in the last 10 to 15 years. But the resources for agencies are just not there. And they have a small amount of resources. But they can't do what they are professionally trained to do, is engage with a lot of more young people. Because if you don't engage with young people, then the outcomes are not good. And it's the same in Newcastle. Newcastle has, again, a lot of new builds. A lot of young people want things to do. We were all young once. Sometimes young people kind of gather in places where they shouldn't be gathering and all that. But generally, young people want to do things. They don't want to do bad things. They want to do good things. But if you have things for them to do, the outcomes are very, very good. And this is kind of seen not only in Ireland, but Scandinavia, where they approached it rather than a criminal justice approach or a policing approach. The best approach is through youth work, diversion and all that. And that is the way to tackle certain things of our young people today. Minister, just in relation to the strategy itself. I was reading kind of with curiosity in relation to the Greentown initiative. I've never heard of this initiative. It's actually a very good critique in relation to young people being drawn into serious criminality. And I can tell you now, that is a losing battle, particularly early as I know of. And it's slightly depressing where you see young people as young as 12 or 13 being drawn into criminality generally around distribution of drugs. Generally, that's what happens. Generally, that's what happens. And it works like clockwork. These kids are groomed by adults. There is money put into it. And them young people are essentially used for the distribution of drugs. Now, that is, as I said, that is a battle that I think is going to be very, very difficult to win. Can it be addressed? I think it can. I probably won't have the time to address all the kind of the issues around that. But that's an issue that is, I find, and I think most people would find kind of abhorrent, where young people are selling crack cocaine at the elder 12 to adults. It's like unbelievable. Like, you know, and these are young people that I would have known from different activities. And I, you know, it's pretty, you want to do something about it, but obviously, you know, that's up to the authorities and up to the kind of the relevant people. So that's, I think, their initiatives, Minister, that, you know, this strategy is trying to address. It's not, obviously, not perfect by any means, but it's a strategy that will have better outcomes, better outcomes for young people. And once you engage with young people, there is better outcomes, to say the least, better outcomes for their parents and better outcomes for their kind of their siblings and so forth. Just in relation to the Garda Youth Diversion project, I think it's a very good project. It does take away young people that maybe engage in more activity they shouldn't be. I think it's a well-worked project that kind of is ongoing. In relation to mid-light leagues, football is a brilliant project. Again, when you ask the kind of the community police, they say it takes young people away from maybe doing activity they shouldn't be doing, you know. And once they're doing activity they should be doing, then, again, it's better outcomes. So, Minister, it's about resources. I think you can resource, you know, the majority of the aspirational aspects of this strategy. I think, again, it's all about outcomes. Because once you engage, again, once you engage with young people in the right way, and not talking down to them, and not demonising them. Because in society, we have it, especially the media, and certain kind of, certain, you know, we just try, do not demonise young people. Do not, because if you demonise, if you're told they are stupid, and you're smelly, and all that, then that's going to get into your head, and you're going to think that way. You know, you're going to think that, but if we tell young people, look at, you're good, you're, you know, you do good things, and you're a good person. Then, the outcomes, again, are really good for that person and society as well. Thank you.
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