The age of criminal responsibility will be increased from seven to 12 years under the new Children's Bill to be published by the Minister for Justice on Thursday.
The Bill is one of several major pieces of legislation the Government will publish in the new Dail term.
The Children's Bill will replace the Children Bill, 1996, and contains more than 270 sections. As well as increasing the age of criminal responsibility, it will make parents and guardians more responsible for under-age offenders. There will also be changes in the way children give evidence in court.
A Department of Justice source said last night the Bill would attempt to change the whole thinking and approach to dealing with offenders under the age of 16.
The emphasis will be on providing different options for dealing with offenders instead of court appearances and detention.
"It will attempt to bring in all the agencies such as the Garda and social services to deal with a young offender at a very early stage. Rather than running straight to court there will be an attempt to deal with the situation at an earlier stage."
One of these options will be family conferences, which would be attended by the parents or guardian of an offender and members of the various services.
"Before heading down the road of jailing young people the Bill will provide for families to get directly involved and get them all together to hammer out an arrangement where an alternative to detention will be offered." While the Minister for Justice is sponsoring the Bill, there will be a huge input when it is law from the Departments of Education and Health.
The Government also confirmed yesterday that the Mental Health Bill and the Local Government Reform Bill would be published in this Dail session. The former will provide for a review of every case where a person is detained in a psychiatric institution for more than 21 days.
The Local Government Reform Bill will be aimed at modernising local government legislation and implementing a range of measures. There is speculation that the Bill will provide for the direct election of mayors and council chairpersons, and for the payment for the first time of local councillors.
The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, will also before Christmas publish the Criminal Justice (Sex Offenders) Bill, which will allow for the establishment of a sex offenders' register. It will also provide for limited separate legal representation for complainants in rape and serious sexual assault cases.
The Minister for Education, Mr Martin, will publish the Teaching Council Bill to establish a regulatory authority for teachers.
In all 19 Bills are expected to be published before Christmas, while others which have been agreed are being drafted.
These include the National Minimum Wage Bill, sponsored by the Tanaiste, Ms Harney.
The Standards in Public Office Bill is currently being drafted, as is the Ombudsman Bill, to widen the remit of the Ombudsman.