Deputy Paul Lawless: I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this very important subject. We have a major problem with youth crime and especially with child exploitation. There is a major issue with children being enticed into criminal activity by adults, especially in the drugs scene. Drug dealers are providing drugs to young people. Often, these are free in the first instance. Those young people and children then get hooked on drugs. They have no ability to pay for those drugs, so then they become drug runners doing the dirty work on the ground for drug dealers. This is a major issue and it constitutes child trafficking. We know that children in State care, in particular, are extremely vulnerable due to their own family situations and, of course, the shortcomings in State agencies. It is unthinkable that the Government brought in legislation last year to reduce the sentencing for adults who entice young people into drugs and criminality.

On the topic of drugs, there is a major problem right across this country, including in my constituency of Mayo, in relation to the drug dealers harassing young people for drug debts. Any of those young people cannot pay the drug debts. Many emigrate or leave their areas. Drug dealers then harass their parents and grandparents. I know of a family in County Mayo where an aunt and uncle have been harassed by drug dealers. We need to get to grips with this issue. We need tougher sentencing for drug dealers who seek to recoup debts from the families of the children, grandchildren and nieces and nephews involved. It is shocking that many families are living in fear. I know of some cases where farm equipment was stolen to pay for such debt. We need tougher sentencing on a whole raft of issues, but especially concerning the drug issue. Most especially, we need them for drug dealers and adults who use children as pawns to do their dirty work. It is happening on an organised basis. We all know it and we need to get to grips with it. What is the future for these young people we see in gangs around shopfronts doing dirty work acting as runners for drug dealers? What is their life expectancy? If we do not tackle this issue, we will create another generation of young people, young adults, who will be forever in the criminal justice system.

Deputy Michael Collins: The foundation of my political career lies in my beginnings within the voluntary community sector. I firmly believe everybody should engage with their communities in some capacity. Recently, I addressed the pressing issue of the lack of gardaí in rural Ireland. We have witnessed the closure of Garda stations without replacements. This has led to a decline in the sense of safety that once prevailed in the past. If people had an issue, they could visit their local Garda station where they would know the gardaí and they would know you and your family. This connectivity between the community and the Garda was always invaluable and should have been continued. We have had some exceptional gardaí in west Cork. I often mention their names here, such as Garda Jonathan McCarthy. I do this because he lives in the same community in which he works in Ballydehob. It is greatly important to the people of the Mizen Peninsula to have a garda living in the Garda station there. His family are there too. It is a great service to the local community. Damian White is another garda who comes to mind. He works with the youth. We have the An Garda Síochána Youth Awards.

The point I am trying to make is that not all young people are bad. An incredible number of great young people are out there. They have a great deal to offer and we need to squeeze that potential out of them. The only way we can do that is through the An Garda Síochána Youth Awards at divisional and national level to celebrate outstanding young people aged between 13 and 21 by recognising the positive contributions they make to their communities. The first Garda divisional youth awards were established by a local juvenile liaison officer in west Cork in 1995. He recognised the tremendous efforts of young people in the community that deserved acknowledgement. Since then, the awards have grown significantly. We have some great young people and we should not always be down on them. I recently met one such lad at a St. Patrick's Day parade in Skibbereen, a 15-year-old kickboxing world champion named Evan Collins. There are many more great young people in this country and we must ensure they are involved in the community. We must give them something to do and encourage them to get involved. Independent Ireland advocates for increased Garda funding, housing support and recruitment initiatives. We also believe that repeat offenders should face appropriate consequences for their actions. Furthermore, we hold that non-citizens who commit serious crimes should be deported immediately. Applicants with violent or sexual convictions should not be allowed entry into our country. I mentioned quite a few young people. One young man in west Cork who has done quite a lot and whose work has probably gone unnoticed is Aidan Burke. He is a kind of a rap musician. I met him recently. He put together a song for young people who have mental health problems. He needs to be recognised. This is what we need to do. We must recognise the good young people out there.

Deputy Ken O'Flynn: This is an important matter to speak on. One of the marvellous things about our jobs as elected Members of this House is that we engage with the community on so many different levels and we see such fantastic young people and organisations giving back to society. They are led by many community leaders. Some of them have gone on to become members of their local councils and Members of this House too. Many come from community backgrounds, a bit like Deputy Collins I think. He started off with perhaps about 30 organisations and this grew to approximately 120 organisations by the time he entered this House. I refer to giving back to communities. We see some tremendous people out there. We also see, however, that an awful lot of work now goes into setting up youth organisations, from drama to any sports. The amount of company regulation and paperwork it is necessary to go through is extremely cumbersome for many organisations. We talk in this House about getting people involved in sports, dramas, new types of clubs and new types of energy, and occupying them. Looking at the Icelandic model, which brought down antisocial behaviour from about 40% to approximately 3%, it was about engagement. It is about taking away boredom and giving people opportunities to do something after hours after school.

My colleague, Deputy Paul Lawless, mentioned the drug epidemic. It has not escaped Cork either. We have a situation in Cork where children as young as eight are being used as drug mules. Children as young as eight are knocking on doors and threatening people because they cannot be prosecuted. They are getting a couple of bags of sweets or a can of Coke after as their reward for threatening Mary and telling her they are going to burn out her car. This is what is going on in parts of this country. It is happening not just in Cork but also in Mayo, Dublin and everywhere.

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