Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 September 2024
326. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Justice for an update in relation to the work of Garda juvenile liaison officers; the number of Garda juvenile liaison officers, by rank, in each Garda division; the amount of funding it has received in 2022, 2023 and 2024; and the number of arrests and prosecutions arising in the years in question, in tabular form. [37831/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am advised by the Garda authorities that there are currently 112 members of An Garda Síochána allocated to Juvenile Liaison Officer (JLO) duties across the state, not inclusive of personnel allocated to the Garda National Youth Diversion Bureau (GNYDB) at Garda Headquarters. A breakdown of JLOs by rank and Division is appended to this answer. Please note that for data protection purposes, An Garda Síochána does not release statistical information for counts of fewer than 10.
I am further advised by the Garda authorities that Juvenile Liaison Officers (JLOs) are sworn members of An Garda Síochána, and are appointed at Divisional level on full time JLO duties. On this basis no specific funding information is available for JLOs as a separate category.
Details in relation to the number of referrals to the Garda Youth Diversion Programme, where a child has committed a crime that is the subject of a referral to GNYDB, and if the child was, following consideration, admitted to the Diversion Programme, are available in the Annual Report of the Committee appointed to monitor the effectiveness of the Diversion Programme each year. The annual reports are published on the Garda website:
www.garda.ie/en/crime-prevention/community-engagement/community-engagement-offices/garda-national-youth-diversion-bureau/
Any criminal offence committed where a child is found not suitable and not admitted to the Diversion Programme is then the subject of direction from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in relation to charge(s) and a prosecution before the Courts.
As the Deputy will appreciate, An Garda Síochána does not hold and cannot provide a return for convictions. Queries regarding convictions data should be directed toward the Courts Service, who are responsible for providing such information. The Courts Service has a dedicated email address for the provision of information to members of the Houses of the Oireachtas: oireachtasenquiries@courts.ie .
