Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 November 2016
533. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which she remains satisfied regarding the adequacy of places of detention for juvenile offenders; the extent to which rehabilitative training is available in such circumstances; if any augmentation is required; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33843/16]
View answerCurrently, Oberstown Children Detention Campus (Oberstown) provides a total of up to 54 places for young people ordered to be remanded in custody or committed to serve a sentence of detention by the courts (48 boys and 6 girls). This provides places for girls up to the age of 18, for boys up to the age of 18 who are remanded in custody and up to the age of 17 who are sent by the courts to serve a sentence of detention. Boys aged 17 who are sentenced to detention are currently accommodated by the Irish Prison Service. This practice will cease shortly, meeting the commitment in the Programme for Government to end the practice of detaining children in adult prison facilities, when a number of additional units are put into use extending the capacity on the Oberstown campus. It is intended that this will provide sufficient accommodation for all children under 18 years of age ordered to be detained by the courts.
In the interim, the existing facilities at Oberstown are being used to meet demand from the Courts. Oberstown operates a twenty four hour bed management service for children detention places, with the aim of having the maximum degree of coordination in this area. This service is available at all times to courts, the Probation Service and An Garda Síochána to assess the up to date position with regard to the availability of places. This is a demand led service and every effort is made to meet the needs of the courts in this area.
Oberstown continues to deliver services focused on education and rehabilitation of all young people detained in order to address offending behaviour and to support their early re-integration into the community. The new capital development at Oberstown includes a new purpose-built education, training and recreation unit. This provides sufficient age and ability appropriate facilities to support the delivery, by Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Education Training Board, of the necessary education and training services to young people in detention.
The child care model of detention delivered in Oberstown provides for a range of rehabilitative supports for each child as part of an overall programme, with a strong ethos of school attendance, education and training and an emphasis on rehabilitation. It is important to note that a range of rehabilitative supports is offered to every child entering Oberstown as part of an overall programme, focused on their individual needs. The extent to which each child avails of these services depends on the individual profile in each case.
