Vol. 432 No. 6
103 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Justice the total number and location of suitable detention places available for boys and girls under 16 years of age, over 16 years and under 21 years; if she has satisfied herself that there are sufficient detention places for young offenders; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
My Department caters for the detention of young male offenders aged 16 years and over and young female offenders aged 17 years and over. Offenders under that age cannot be sent to prisons or places of detention operated by my Department except in the special circumstances provided for in Sections 97 and 102 of the Children Act, 1908.
The Courts may commit young offenders between the ages of 12 and 16 to special schools. The provision of special school accommodation for such offenders is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Education.
Male offenders aged 16 to 21 can be committed by the Courts to St. Patrick's Institution in Dublin. In addition male offenders aged 17 years and over can be sent by the courts to the committal prisons i.e. Mountjoy, Cork, Limerick and Portlaoise. They may, of course, be transferred subsequently to places of detention or open centres set up under the Prisons Act, 1970 i.e. Wheatfield, Arbour Hill, Fort Mitchel, the Training Unit, Loughan House, Shelton Abbey and Shanganagh Castle.
Mountjoy and Limerick Prisons cater for female offenders aged 17 years and over.
I have, as previously announced, begun a wide ranging review of official policy in relation to the operation of prisons and the treatment of offenders generally. I have asked that the review should include consideration of several options including the wider development of community based sanctions as an alternative to prison custody, the development of more appropriate parole arrangements and the provision of more cell spaces. Regard will be had in this review to detention places for young offenders.
