Children's Ombudsman calls to extend youth justice sanctions to adults under 24
16th September 2025
In a call echoed by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), Niall Muldoon also recommended increasing the age of criminal responsibility to 14 years. A separate facility for the detention of young people between 18 and 24 years old should be considered, according to the Office of the Ombudsman for Children (OCO).
In a submission on the General Scheme of the Children (Amendment) Bill 2024, the ombudsman for children, Niall Muldoon, also recommended increasing the age of criminal responsibility from 12 years to 14 years.
The OCO added that those between 18 and 24 years of age have a greater capacity for rehabilitation. “Research has shown that the brain and personal maturity levels continue to develop well into the mid-20s, with the frontal lobe [a part of the brain responsible for impulse control and decision-making] often the last area of the brain to mature.”
“As a result of the prevailing research, the OCO would like to echo calls made by the Irish Penal Reform Trust to extend the principles and sanctions of the youth justice system to apply to young people up to the age of 24.
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