Nora Owen
Question:20 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Education the findings of the investigation into the abandonment of a young offender at Trinity House, Lusk, County Dublin on 22 November 1993.
Written Answers. - Abandonment of Young Offender.
The investigation to which the Deputy refers has now been completed and I am assured that adequate arrangements are now being put in place to avoid a recurrence of this unfortunate incident.
As indicated to the House on the 26th January last, the issues involved in this case have to do with the security arrangements surrounding the handling of young offenders. I would not, therefore, consider it appropriate to make the findings of the investigation public.
However, I can assure the House that both I and my colleague, the Minister for Justice, view this incident with the utmost seriousness. From the detailed investigation carried out it is evident that the incident occurred because the normal arrangements for dealing with cases of non-admission to a young offender centre were not followed on this occasion.
Under these arrangements, it is required that the accompanying garda should return the offender to the court, if it still sitting. Where the court is not sitting, the offender would normally be returned to the Garda station where he/she would be given station bail. On more rare occasions, the offender would be returned home and placed under the care of a parent or responsible adult.
As a result of the breakdown in procedures on this occasion, my colleague the Minister for Justice has asked the Garda Authorities to ensure that all gardaí are fully aware of their responsibilities in this area for the future. In addition, my Department is currently engaged in discussions with the Department of Justice and the Garda Authorities to review current procedures and consider whether further improvements can be made.
Finally, I am grateful to the Deputy for affording me the opportunity to correct a statement which I made to the House on 23rd November last in response to Private Members' questions on this matter.
In the course of responding on that occasion, I indicated that the court had been informed that Trinity House was full and that nonetheless the Judge decided to sentence the youth in question to one month in Trinity House.
I made this statement in good faith and on the basis of the information available to me at that time. However, I have since been advised that the court had not in fact been so informed.
The confusion surrounding this point arose from the fact that on the day of the court hearing, the centre was contacted by a member of the Garda regarding availability of a place in the centre for the youth in question. This garda had been charged with bringing the youth to the centre. The staff of the centre had incorrectly assumed that the inquiry was being made on behalf of the court and had so advised my Department.
I want to take this opportunity to apologise to the House and the court for any inconvenience to which my previous statement on this point may have given rise.