asked the Minister for Justice whether in view of the admitted deficiencies of the premises at Clonmel Borstal Institution and the temporary transfer of the staff and inmates to Cork Prison he will endeavour to secure an allocation from the Employment Schemes Vote of moneys to be spent in adopting existing premises or building new premises as a work of permanent value, and thereby provide a scheme for the provision of employment and relief of distress.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Clonmel Borstal Institution.
So far as can he seen at present, the probability is that the provision of more suitable accommodation in place of the Borstal premises at Clonmel would not involve a sufficiently high proportion of unskilled labour to make the work a suitable object for an allocation from the Employment Scheme Vote. The question of providing suitable permanent premises for youths sentenced to Borstal detention is, however, having close attention, and in the consideration of the matter I shall keep the Deputy's suggestion in mind.
Is the Minister aware that the accommodation at the Borstal Institution has been "receiving close attention" for the past 20 years, the fruits of which "close attention" were that the boys were immured until recently in a jail built about 120 years ago, that they have been transferred to another jail of even less attractive interior than that from which they were removed and that, for the past 20 years, these youths have been in a jail to which there is no land attached, with the result that there was no occupation with which their time could be engaged and no prospect of any suitable occupational treatment being given to the boys in the new premises to which they have been sent? In view of these circumstances, will the Minister represent to the Government that this is a matter of the first urgency and that it is a public scandal that, in this country, our Borstal Institution should be housed in a hard-labour jail?
Mr. Boland
I am well aware that the circumstances under which these boys are confined are anything but what they ought to be. The matter is having close attention and is being treated as a matter of urgency.