The huge failures to act on youth crimes, which were reported yesterday, must never occur again, said a Galway TD.
Responding to a new report by An Garda Síochána, Anne Rabbitte TD said that measures must be put in place to ensure that this never happens again.
The report revealed that there were nearly 8,000 youth crimes which were never progressed or prosecuted.
The Galway East TD called on Minister Katherine Zappone to outline what her department is going to do in light of the recent report.
Commenting on the report, Deputy Rabbitte said: “It seems that a number of these cases involved serious offences, something which I find deeply worrying.
“It is simply horrendous to think that a person could make a report of a serious crime to An Garda Síochána and that would not be acted on.”
She said that it was unfair to the victims of these crimes, but it also affected the young offenders, who didn’t receive the appropriate interventions from the justice system and the broader state.
“It should be remembered that 57 of the child offenders referred to in this report have since passed away.
It is possible that proper intervention could have averted this. As Garda Commissioner Drew Harris commented, “These were people living chaotic lives,” said the Fianna Fáil TD.
Deputy Rabbitte called on Minister Zappone to account for this massive failing and explain what her Department will be doing to ensure that such an issue does not happen again.
