Joint Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration publishes report on Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the General Scheme of the Children (Amendment) Bill 2024

The General Scheme contains provisions which seek to amend the Children Act 2001 to address identified gaps since the enactment of the Act. The Committee welcomes certain aspects of the proposed legislation, including the provision of a Deferred Sentence Supervision Order (DSSO) as an alternative to a suspended sentence for the detention of a child.

Following its hearings, the Committee highlighted a number of areas where it believes the proposed legislation could be improved, including expanding the use of family conferencing, and extending the Bail Supervision Scheme nationwide.

Speaking following the publication of the report, Cathaoirleach Matt Carthy TD said:

“In undertaking pre-legislative scrutiny, the Committee has sought to scrutinise the proposed legislation and provide recommendations on areas where it believes change or amendments are warranted. Among the areas identified for further examination were restorative justice and detention of young people.

I hope that this report will help to inform the legislative process and make a valuable contribution to the forthcoming legislation.”

The Committee has made a number of recommendations, and a copy of its report will be sent to the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration Jim O’Callaghan.

Read the report and its recommendations in full here.