asked the Minister for Justice whether he has seen a report regarding the treatment meted out to a boy from the Nazareth Home, Belfast, who was employed on a farm in County Leitrim; and whether, having regard to the facts stated in the court proceedings, he will arrange for the Garda authorities to keep in touch with such youths so as to prevent a repetition of the treatment complained of by the youth in question.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Treatment of Boarded-Out Youths.
I have made inquiries in this case, and I have ascertained that the youth in question is now 26 years of age, and was 19½ years when he entered employment in County Leitrim. There is no evidence of any criminal act on the part of the employer, and it is not the duty of the Garda to intervene in regard to conditions of employment in such cases.
Is the Minister aware of the facts? When this case came before the court it was stated on behalf of the claimant — the youth who was dealt with in this reprehensible way — that he was compelled to sleep in a barn on planks laid on creels, that he had to sleep on a manure cart on which an old mattress was laid and in a shed in which manure was stored, that he contracted pneumonia living under those conditions, that the pneumonia was subsequently diagnosed as tuberculosis and that, as a result of the conditions under which he was compelled to sleep, he had to spend three years in a tuberculosis hospital in Manorhamilton? Is the Minister aware that the trial judge, in giving a verdict for the claimant, asked whether there was no organisation to look after the interests of those boys and protect them when sent out into the world? Does the Minister realise that it is quite undesirable that boys from industrial schools should be farmed out in this way on wretched pittances, masquerading as wages, with no means of supervising them because, in the main, they are employed in areas where it is not easy to supervise them——
That is a rather long supplementary question.
Would the Minister give further consideration to the question of the interest of boys who are reared in those industrial schools and get the Garda to maintain some contact with them to ensure that they will not be exploited in this soulless way?
Mr. Boland
I do not see how the Garda could do that. It may be necessary for somebody to do it but the Deputy will agree that the Garda has sufficient to do without taking on this task. It would be impossible for the Gardai to carry out such duties.
Does not the Minister think that somebody should prevent the exploitation of those young lads? The Garda is a nation-wide organisation and would the Minister consider whether it would be possible to utilise the Garda with a view to applying some kind of supervision in such cases?
Is it not a fact that the authorities of some industrial schools do that for three years after the boys leave school?
Mr. Boland
I think that that is the practice but this boy was 19½ years of age when he entered into employment with the person in question and he was, probably, beyond the age for such supervision.