Joint Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to meet for pre-legislative scrutiny of the Children (Amendment) Bill 2024

The following representatives are due to appear:

• Dr. Ian D. Marder
• Irish Penal Reform Trust
• Ms. Valerie McAllorum Ryan
• Irish Council for Civil Liberties
• Law Society of Ireland
• Dr. Louise Forde

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Committee Cathaoirleach Deputy Matt Carthy said: “The Children (Amendment) Bill 2024 seeks to address a number of issues and gaps that have arisen since enactment of the Children Act 2001 more than 20 years ago.

The Bill seeks to extend the jurisdiction of the Children’s Court to include those who have ‘aged-out’ of the child justice system, despite being under 18 at time of the offence.

The Bill provides for a number of amendments to the 2001 Act with a focus on the area of sentencing of children.

The proposed amendments can be broadly categorised into four main objectives.

Firstly, to provide for alternatives to suspended sentences for children by introducing a Deferred Sentence Supervision Order.

The second objective of the Bill is to ensure that several existing community sanctions under the 2001 Children Act can be enforced once the child turns 18 years old.

The third objective of the Bill is to set the age of eligibility for procedural entitlements under the 2001 Act to the age a person was when the offence was committed, and not the age the person is at the time of the trial.

The fourth objective of the Bill is to provide for miscellaneous matters that relate to the administration of youth justice; including repeal of orders which are no longer utilised by the Courts and changes to the Board of Management of Oberstown.”

Watch the meeting live here or on the Oireachtas smartphone app for Apple and Android.