Children in Care

62. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of children in Tusla care who have come to the attention of An Garda Síochána in each of the past five years; whether Tusla is adequately providing for children at risk of reoffending; and the number of juvenile detention beds. [66252/26]

There is growing concern among many parents, guardians, teachers, youth workers, gardaí and many others across society about the number of young people who are displaying challenging and disruptive behaviour. Some are even going on to commit crimes. Will the Minister make a statement on the matter, please?

The Government's youth justice strategy 2021-2027 identifies family support, early intervention and community-based diversion programmes as key components in preventing offending and promoting desistance. Enhanced family engagement through Garda youth diversion projects, Tusla services and reintegration planning is regarded as an essential element of effective youth justice practice in Ireland. It is important to note that Tusla's remit is primarily focused on child protection rather than on the prevention of crime. That is important. The prevention of crime is a matter for the Department of justice while child protection is a matter for Tusla. Tusla works hand in hand with An Garda Síochána as both State organisations work together to help children and families who need their combined assistance. Officials from the Department are in regular contact with officials in the Department of justice in particular by way of engagement through the youth justice oversight and youth justice governance and strategy groups. These help to implement the youth justice strategy 2021-2027, which is led by the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration. Under this strategy the Government committed to strengthening family support interventions, including through the Department of justice's youth diversion projects. At the core of the Children Act 2001 is the premise of detention as a last resort. This is a critical factor to understand in the youth justice system. The Garda national youth diversion bureau's role is to keep young people who offend out of the formal criminal justice system where appropriate and reduce the risk of reoffending. Although family support is a central pillar of Irish youth justice policy, I am advised by my colleague, the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, that there remains a need for more robust Irish outcome data specifically measuring the extent to which family support interventions reduce reoffending among young people. Current policy is informed largely by international evidence and by broader assessments of youth diversion and early intervention programmes. It is important to recognise that the overwhelming majority of children in the care system will never come into contact with An Garda Síochána, let alone be in conflict with the law. It is important to say that. The vast majority of children in care never, ever come to the attention of An Garda Síochána and it would be remiss of us to suggest otherwise.

Of course, we all want to see the optimal result. We do not want to see any children to be involved in antisocial and disruptive behaviour but unfortunately there are. The Minister gave a nice flowery answer there that she is responsible for the welfare of children and not if they are offending but they are both intrinsically linked. Does the Minister have concern about the increasing number of young people engaging in persistent antisocial and offending behaviour? What does she intend to do about the situation and the cause of that trend? Is she satisfied that Tusla, schools, youth services and other State agencies have the resources and supports necessary to intervene effectively with at-risk children? We also know a lot of children in the care of Tusla and the State have gone missing in the past couple of years. That is an appalling vista. The Minister’s answer here is not really helpful. We need to get to the bottom of this. It is a growing trend and it is worrying. While the vast majority of children do not do this - and we are delighted about that; it is great – we need to have accountability.

I absolutely appreciate the Deputy’s concern. I think we all share the concern. However, I must also speak to the fact and the fact is the vast majority of children who are in the care of the State never, ever come into contact with An Garda Síochána. In fact, I would say they thrive with positive intervention and it is not appropriate to suggest otherwise. There is a close working relationship between the Department of justice and my Department, with my Department looking at it from a child welfare point of view and with the Department of justice looking at it from a crime prevention point of view. There are more than 5,000 children in the care of the State. A very small number come from particularly complex and challenged backgrounds and it is for that reason they are in the care of the State but that is a very small percentage. In that respect, I want to acknowledge the work that is done by Tusla in terms of family support. I can list some of the family supports that are there. For example, there are parenting supports, which are overseen by Tusla and its partner community and voluntary organisations. These include parenting supports to help parents feel confident and capable in their parenting role, targeted outreach programmes designed to reach specific groups of families who may be at risk of social exclusion-----

I agree with the Minister about the vast majority, thankfully, but it is the minority who are involved in this behaviour. It is also a sad minority who have gone missing in State care under the watch of Tusla. A previous Minister said he did not lose a wink of sleep. Pat Rabbitte is a former chairman of the board of Tusla. I think Tusla is wholly unfit for purpose. Goodness, accountability is not there. Children can go missing. We saw from the UCD report some time ago how children were being trafficked in hotels in Cork when they were under State care. This is a shocking vista. You cannot just wish it away by saying the vast majority of children are not involved in antisocial behaviour. Thankfully, they are not. We all have responsibilities, including parents, to ensure that. However, the ones who fall through the cracks and who do end up in State care deserve to be minded, nurtured, rehabilitated and taken care of and, above all, the State should know where they are. If they are not with their family and are in State care, the State should know where they are, whether they are accounted for, whether they are missing or whether they are being trafficked or involved in other horrible activities like that. It is a shocking situation.

To reiterate, we are all concerned with any young people who find themselves in difficult situations. I am mindful there is a percentage of children, and not just children in State care but children who are not in State care, who find themselves involved with An Garda Síochána or who find themselves involved with crime or whatever. That is not just exclusive to the children-----

That was my question.

That is not exclusive to the very small minority who are in State care who find themselves in very similar circumstances. Other children outside State care find themselves in similar situations. For that reason, there are significant supports being made available from a family point of view to support families and young people so that they can readjust their lives, whether that is by way of counselling and therapeutic supports, a strengthening of the family resource centres - the Deputy will be aware that service has increased by 15 in the past year and a half to 136 family resource centres - services provided by the 12 area based childhood programmes, ABC programmes, which see parents, as the first and most important carers and educators in their children's lives, can be supported. There are also 121 Tusla child and family support networks and 27 children and young people’s service committees. There are a number of support agencies working to ensure that children get the best possible opportunities and supports in life.