Opposition outrage at Court Service figures
The opposition have demanded action after new figures showed the Children’s Court dealt with 12,600 criminal matters last year.
According to the Court service’s records, almost 200 juveniles were imprisoned, 22 were sent to industrial school and 19 to reformatory school.
However, 133 cases were struck out against young offenders because there was no suitable place available for them to go.
Fine Gael's Justice spokesman John Deasy has claimed figures from the Courts Service today are evidence many young people are failing to see any consequences for their actions and have
ceased to have any respect for the law.
"Crime figures are up, street violence is escalating dramatically and now we find that 133 cases against children were struck out because there was nowhere to put them," claimed Deputy Deasy.
"The antics of the Government in the run up to the General Election have contributed hugely to the problem. The former Fianna Fail Justice Minister's priority was to kid the public into thinking all was well rather than resourcing the justice system," he added.
Labour TD Pat Rabbitte said: "There’s a lack of appreciation of the damage being caused to local communities and the problems being caused for local communities by the fact that these young offenders can, with impunity, cause mayhem in their local areas knowing that there are no suitable available places of detention."
