Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 January 2015
142. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the details of the 16 boys reportedly being held in adult prisons; when these boys will be placed in more age-appropriate settings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2196/15]
View answerOn 16 January 2015, there were a total of 16 boys aged 17 years detained in the adult prison system, comprising 6 boys remanded in custody in St Patrick’s Institution and 10 boys serving a sentence of detention in Wheatfield Place of Detention.
There is a commitment in the Programme for Government to end the practice of detaining children in adult prison facilities and significant progress has been made in this area. Responsibility for 16 year old boys was transferred from the adult prison system to the Oberstown campus in May 2012 and this commitment will be fully met when the extension of the Oberstown campus results in the transfer of responsibility for 17 year old boys from the adult prison system to the children detention schools. The Oberstown capital development project, which commenced on site in September 2013, will enable the extension of the child care model of detention, which focuses on education and rehabilitation in order to minimize re-offending, to all under 18 year olds ordered to be detained by the courts on criminal justice charges.
The first 3 units of residential accommodation, which will prioritise the transfer of responsibility for 17 year old boys from adult prison facilities, were formally handed over to the Oberstown campus on 27 November 2014, following the required inspection of works and technical approval of the Office of Public Works, managing the project on behalf of my Department. I am advised that, in order to ensure safe and secure custody of children in the new buildings and that the appropriate health and safety standards are met, a further period of training and orientation for staff and for the fitting out of the new units with furniture and equipment is required. This process is ongoing at present and will be completed in the first quarter of 2015.
Other issues impacting on the operational date for the transfer of responsibility for 17 year old boys are the recruitment of the required complement of new care staff to work in the expanded facilities, and the passage of necessary legislation to ensure that all legal issues relating to the detention of children up to the age of 18 are fully addressed. Following a recruitment programme carried out in 2014, 38 new care staff have commenced employment on the Oberstown campus and completed the training and orientation process. However, the recruitment programme had a target of 60 additional care staff and an additional process for a further phase of recruitment is currently under way. It is intended that the required staff complement will be reached in the second quarter of 2015 for the operation of all of the new residential units.
My Department is also progressing the necessary legal changes required in order to transfer responsibility for 17 year old boys from adult prison facilities. Heads of a Bill to amend the Children Act, 2001 were approved by Government in September 2014 and it is intended that the Bill will be published this quarter and enacted as soon as possible thereafter.
My Department is reviewing these matters on an ongoing basis and it is my intention that the practice of detaining children in adult prison facilities will cease as early as possible this year.
