Vol. 531 No. 5
125 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the extent to which accommodation for juvenile offenders exists, if he has had discussions with other Departments with a view to a resolution in respect of this ongoing problem and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6376/01]
For the purposes of this question, juvenile offenders are taken to be those under the age of 18 years. 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 Institution. Male offenders aged 16 and over may be committed on remand to Cloverhill Prison. 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, Castlerea and Portlaoise. 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.
Female offenders, aged 17 years and over, may be committed on remand or sentenced to imprisonment to Mountjoy and Limerick women's prisons.
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.
Every effort is made to segregate juvenile offenders from the general prison population in each institution at all times. The few held in the more traditional adult prisons are accommodated with other young offenders or with carefully selected older prisoners.
All persons committed from the courts to institutions or prisons under the aegis of this Department are accommodated. None is refused due to limitations on accommodation.
The legal provisions for the committal of young offenders under the age of 18 years will change on the enactment of the Children Bill, 1999, which proposes that where a court imposes a period of 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; and (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 16 and 17 year old offenders.
The prisons building programme in relation to accommodation for children has been extended, following consultations with my ministerial colleagues, to provide the following facilities: a 40-place unit, with full support facilities, on a dedicated site adjacent to Cork Prison – planning of this project is at an advanced stage and building work will commence shortly; and a 100 place unit, with full support facilities in the Dublin region, comprising separate secure detention for up to 20 females and 80 males.
