Vice President, ladies and gentlemen
I’d like to thank the University for giving me the opportunity to launch
the Research into Policy, Programmes and Practice (REPPP) project here
today.
It is terrific to see so many faculties, schools and support services from
the university represented today. I hope this is indicative of the level of
support that we can call on for our new and exciting joint venture.
Over the next three years this important project seeks to significantly
enhance the evidence base in relation to children who offend. Better
evidence will help me and my officials to make better policy decisions and
this in turn will improve the chances of better outcomes for children and a
better quality of life for the communities they live in.
It is clear to me that with the University of Limerick my Department has
selected a very compatible partner to develop the REPPP project. The
university has well established business norms of collaboration, external
engagement and multi-disciplinary research designed to tackle complicated
real-life problems. In addition the University also clearly values the
practical application of high quality research which has societal impact.
Like the University of Limerick, my Department values high quality
evidence. In fact evidence informed planning is core to our national policy
framework for children and young people ‘Better Outcomes Brighter Futures’
and underpins our approach to investing funds on behalf of the tax-payer.
For example in Better Outcomes Brighter Futures we state
‘Government investment in children will be more outcomes-driven and
informed by national and international evidence on the effectiveness of
expenditure on child related
services, with the aim of improving child outcomes and reducing
inequalities.’
And
‘Resource allocation within services will be based on evidence of both need
and effectiveness, and services that are not working will be
decommissioned’
To guide policy decision making in the context of finite resources we need
quality evidence. If anything the bar needs to be even higher in the area
of youth crime policy where in addition to improved outcomes for children
we also need to contribute to nurturing safer communities.
Limerick University’s Strategy for Research and Innovation ‘Excellence &
Impact 2020’identifies four key goals,
· Research Excellence,
· Impact,
· People and
· Ecosystem and International Reach.
Let me dwell for a moment on the first two of these goals, the importance
of ‘excellent research’ and ‘impact’, how they link with what we know in
the youth crime area and their relevance for the REPPP project.
In the youth crime area there are some things we know a lot about, some
things we know a bit about and other things that we know very little about.
We know for example that investments in high quality early years programmes
‘work’. This is particularly true for children who are born into economic
disadvantage. Significant bodies of evidence including randomised control
trials and longitudinal cohort studies demonstrate incontrovertible links
between high quality early interventions and better economic and well-being
outcomes for children. Importantly these improvements are sustained over
the long term.
This is why my Department is so practically committed to further developing
early years and prevention and early intervention services across the
country.
We know a bit about general youth crime patterns. For example most children
involved in crime seem simply to grow out of it by their late teens or
early twenties. We also know that Irish patterns of youth offending onset
and subsequent drop-off, the so called ‘age-crime curve,’ are remarkably
similar to other jurisdictions.
This is why we take a proportionate approach to youth offending. We try to
limit children’s exposure to the formal justice system because the evidence
suggests that this exposure can itself be detrimental. Instead we focus our
energies on reducing children’s anti- social behaviours and encourage their
pro-social behaviours in community settings.
There are also deficits in our knowledge. We still have little hard
evaluative data on whether programmes can be said to work or whether
certain approaches work better than others.
Finally there is the small number of children involved in the most serious
types of offending behaviour who may be at risk of being caught up in
criminal networks. Internationally the body of knowledge in this area is
poor and our own knowledge base is very patchy. There have been only a
limited number of small scale studies such as the Greentown study carried
out by Dr Sean Redmond. These children face the most difficult adversities
day-by-day but they are also responsible for a hugely disproportionate
level of crime.
Addressing these knowledge deficits has been identified as tasks or actions
in our current Youth Justice Action Plan 2014-2018. This plan is
coordinated by the Irish Youth Justice Service which is a seamless
collaboration between the Department of Children and Youth Affairs the
Department of Justice and Equality.
The REPPP project breaks new ground in terms of knowledge building. It is a
strategic partnership permitting us to chart a general direction for
developing the youth crime evidence base overall as well as defining
specific projects.
The REPPP project has only recently commenced so its initial work-plan has
not yet been finalised. However the areas where we have a deficit in our
knowledge areas will feature as priorities as specific actions are tied
down.
Dr Sean Redmond, seconded from my Department will lead the project working
closely with Professor Shane Kilcommins and Raymond Friel from the School
of Law. I welcome the fact that the University will provide academic
support for the project as well as practical guidance and assistance from a
range of disciplines which the School of Law has formalised into a REPPP
Project Advisory Committee. In addition to these formal supports I hope
that the REPPP project genuinely engages a wide range of academic staff
across faculties.
The new research capacity created by the REPPP project will engage in,
support and sponsor
• New primary research (for example in the area of repeat and serious
offending),
• Data analysis (for example assessing the capability of data collected
across the youth justice system to answer key policy issues)
· Evidence Reviews of literature and accessing expert opinion to inform
decision making in areas of Youth Justice where the evidence base is poor
· Examination of practices across the youth justice system in
community and detention settings
· Field-building activities, to raise the profile of evidence informed
decision making and encouraging and incentivising existing Youth Justice
related research activity in Ireland to align with priorities identified by
policy makers
I realise that the ink is only just dry on the set-up agreement between my
Department and the School of Law in the university but I think it’s
important to mark the commencement of this important initiative at an early
stage.
Being ‘in’ at the start of a project, particularly one that we all hope
will significantly develop over time is very exciting.
This university knows all about what it means to realise significant
achievements from modest starts. The university commenced with a pilot
group of 100 students in the early 1970’s and now has over 13,000 students
and 1,300 staff. Of probably greater significance is that the university is
now considered a five star institution at the cutting edge of knowledge
development in the areas of
· science and engineering,
· business,
· education and health;
· arts, humanities and social sciences
Importantly the university has always valued the importance of engaging in
research with real impact.
It is on this practical note that I’d like to finish up.
I am amazed at the beauty of this campus. It is truly a wonderful setting
for research, contemplation and reflection.
However we need to be acutely aware that within a five minute bus ride of
this beautiful campus in Limerick there are children caught up in
situations who I want to benefit, even if indirectly, from this project.
These children need supports and interventions which benefit from the best
that science can give us.
I am confident that with the high quality practical supports on offer from
the university and ongoing dialogue with officials from my Department the
project will make an important contribution to policy making in the youth
crime area.
I look forward to hearing about the project’s progress.
Thank you