Written Answers. - Juvenile Offenders.
Bernard J. Durkan
Question:
47
Mr. Durkan
asked the
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform
the total number of places of detention available for under-age offenders with particular reference to correction and rehabilitation and incorporating modern best practices; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[11214/00]
For the purposes of this question, under-age or juvenile offenders are taken to be those under the age of 18 years. There were 116 offenders under the age of 18 years in custody on Monday, 10 April 2000. The following table outlines the institutions in which they were held:
|
Institution
|
Offenders Aged 15 to 17
|
|
St Patrick's Institution
|
60
|
|
Fort Mitchel
|
26
|
|
Wheatfield
|
10
|
|
Castlerea
|
1
|
|
Limerick (Male)
|
7
|
|
Shanganagh
|
6
|
|
Mountjoy (Female)
|
1
|
|
Cork
|
3
|
|
Cloverhill
|
2
|
|
Total
|
116
|
Male offenders aged 16 and 17 – and up to the age of 21 – may be committed on remand or to serve a period of detention at St. Patrick's Insti tution. Male offenders aged 17 years and over may be committed on remand or sentenced to imprisonment to the five adult committal prisons – Mountjoy, Cork, Limerick, Portlaoise and Castlerea. Sentenced male offenders aged 16 and 17 may be transferred from any of the five adult committal prisons and from St. Patrick's Institution to Wheatfield Place of Detention, Fort Mitchel and Shanganagh Castle to serve their sentences. When the new remand prison at Cloverhill is fully operational, all male remand offenders will be held there, including juveniles who will be accommodated separate from adults.
Female offenders aged 17 years and over may be committed on remand or sentenced to imprisonment to Mountjoy and Limerick Women's Prisons. However, very few female offenders aged 17 years are committed to penal institutions each year.
Offenders under the age of 15 years cannot be committed to prison under any circumstances. Fifteen year old male offenders and 15 and 16 year old female offenders can be committed to prison only in exceptional circumstances. This can occur only in cases where the court certifies under the provisions of sections 97 and 102 of the Children Act, 1908, that the young person is so unruly or depraved of character that he-she cannot be detained in a place of detention provided under Part V of the Act. Such committals are used only as a last resort by the courts and the number of 15 year old males and 15 or 16 year old females committed to prison each year is low.
Every effort is made to segregate juvenile offenders from the general prison population in each institution at all times. The few who are held in adult prisons are accommodated with other young offenders or with carefully selected older prisoners.
Particular emphasis is placed on the rehabilitation of young offenders in custody and, accordingly, a wide range of services are made available as set out hereunder. Efforts are made locally by the governor of each institution to co-ordinate the work of the various services.
Education Service:This service is provided in conjunction with vocational education committees. A wide range of academic subjects are covered enabling inmates to cover the normal school curriculum and to study for and sit examinations set by the Department of Education and Science.
Vocational Training: Training in various vocational skills is available to offenders, including juveniles, with some inmates going on to take City and Guilds examinations. Vocational training is intended to not only provide an occupation for prisoners while they are in custody but also to produce skills which are relevant for offenders after they leave prison.
Library Service: Library facilities are provided in conjunction with the public library service.
Sports/Physical education: A wide range of sports and recreational facilities are available to inmates.
Psychology Service and Probation and Welfare Service: The prison psychology service and probation and welfare service provide counselling to help offenders to deal with their offending and cope during their time in custody.
Medical Services: A full range of medical services are available to inmates, including medical drug detoxification programmes.
Addiction Counselling: Addiction counselling is provided in conjunction with and by various outside agencies such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. In certain cases juvenile offenders with a drugs problem may be granted temporary release conditional upon their attendance at a community based addiction counselling centre.
Chaplaincy Service: The work of the chaplaincy service involves extensive counselling of offenders, not just in spiritual matters but in everyday human activity.
The legal provisions for the committal of offenders under the age of 18 years will change on enactment of the Children Bill, 1999 which proposes that where a court imposes a detention on a child, it shall, (a) where the child is under 16 years of age, order the child to be detained in a children's detention school operated by the Department of Education and Science; (b) where the child is 16 or 17 years of age, order the child to be detained in a place of detention provided by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
Under the provisions of the Bill, separate, dedicated secure detention centres will be required for the accommodation of male and female juvenile offenders 16 and 17 years and these will be provided. The Director General of the Prison Service is currently examining the feasibility of providing two dedicated secure detention centres, one in the Dublin area and one in the Munster area.
