The total cost of the refurbishment in question, including fitting out the new facilities, is £1.67 million approximately.
The project involved the provision of a new centre for boys and the addition of a new long-stay unit to the existing short term facility for seven girls at Oberstown Girls Centre.
The new centre for boys has an initial capacity to take ten boys on remand and a further four on long term detention. This capacity will increase to 12 remand places and to 24 long-stay places in the coming months. The new unit for girls has an initial capacity of four long-stay places and this will rise to eight such places in the coming months.
The care staffing complement in the new unit for girls will be as follows: one team leader, nine care staff and three night supervisors.
However, as an integral part of Oberstown Girls Centre, the unit falls under the control of the centre's overall director and deputy director. It also has access to medical, maintenance, cooking and cleaning services which are provided to the centre on a part-time basis. Occupants of the new unit also avail of a comprehensive educational programme which services both the boys and the girls centres.
The projected annual running cost of Oberstown Boys Centre is £1.7 million. The corresponding figure for the Girls Centre is £0.8 million.
It is planned to construct a new centre for girls at Finglas. This new centre, which is scheduled for completion in 1993 will have a capacity for eight girls on remand and a further 12 on long term detention. This development will replace the present Oberstown Girls Centre and free additional places in Oberstown for use by the boys centre.
