It will be 20 years before the forthcoming Children's Bill has any impact on the lives of dysfunctional young people, according to the deputy director of Trinity House School, a secure detention centre for juvenile offenders, in Lusk, Co Dublin.
Ms Gertie Rafferty, who makes her comments on tonight's edition of Primetime on RTE 1, said addressing child crime had been pushed "down the agenda" and even when the Bill was enacted, "it won't be this generation or even the generation that is four or five when the Bill becomes law".
The Bill, which was first drafted in 1996 and redrafted in 1999, is now at committee stage. According to a Department of Justice spokesman, "it is impossible to say" when it is likely to be enacted.
Primetime is airing two programmes on juvenile crime over the next week. Among those interviewed are those the Bill hopes to target.
The childcare services come in for criticism, with several interviewees blaming them for allowing troubled young children to develop into out-of-control young offenders.
Primetime, Out of Control, is aired on RTE 1 today and next Tuesday at 9.30. p.m..
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