The Department of Justice and Equality is consulting with the public on a draft Youth Justice Strategy.

The Strategy has been developed in light of experience of State agencies and community partners who work with the comparatively small number of children and young people who come in contact with the criminal justice system. This work has built on the 2008 Youth Justice Strategy and the subsequent Youth Justice Action Plan 2014-2018.  It tries to deal with many of the gaps that remain as well as new challenges which have emerged. It is intended that the new Strategy will form an important element of the National Policy Framework for Children and Young Adults, which is overseen by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.

Early in 2019, Minister of State David Stanton, who has special responsibility for Youth Justice, convened an Expert Steering group to guide the development of a new Youth Justice Strategy. The group considered the full range of issues connected to children and young people who may come into contact with the criminal justice system, from prevention and early intervention, (including family support), diversion from crime, through to court processes and facilities, supervision of offenders, detention and reintegration and support post-release.

Membership of the Steering Group included Government Departments, An Garda Síochána, the Probation Service, Tusla – The Child and Family Agency, community representatives, Oberstown Children Detention Campus and academic and practitioner experts. The Department also conducted wide ranging consultations with other stakeholders over the last year or so, to inform the development of the Strategy.