Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 February 2017
130. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the way in which her Department has upheld its role within goal 5 of the national policy framework for children and young people 2014–2020 in supporting effective transitions. [9904/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy is probably aware, Transformational Goal 5 of 'Better Outcomes Brighter Futures, the national policy framework for children and young people 2014 - 2020', is concerned with supporting effective transitions. As such it makes reference to children and young people experiencing transitions in a range of contexts. These include children in transition from living at home to living in a care setting such as residential care or detention.
Commitment G33 under Transformational Goal 5 is to 'Bring a stronger focus on effective transitions, particularly within education, health, child welfare and youth justice services'. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs is the lead agency with responsibility for action in relation to this commitment. The Department of Justice and Equality is also identified as having responsibility for action in relation to the commitment having regard to its responsibilities in the youth justice area. The Department's role in this regard could arise in circumstances where children and young people are being released from detention in the Children Detention Campus in Oberstown and who become subject to Probation Service supervision after their release. It could also arise in circumstances where young people are transferred from the Oberstown Campus to the Irish Prison Service upon reaching their eighteenth birthday during the course of a custodial sentence in Oberstown.
The Deputy might wish to note that the Probation Service and Oberstown Children Detention Campus have an agreed protocol on working together. This protocol promotes coordinated collaborative practices between the Probation Service and Oberstown. It provides guidance on joint working with children and young people entering detention, in detention and preparing for discharge, including periods of early discharge. Similarly, the Irish Prison Service and Oberstown have developed a protocol which addresses information sharing and promotes co-ordinated and collaborative practices between both parties in the context of transfers of young people detained in Oberstown to the Irish Prison Service as referred to above.
Accordingly, the role of the Department of Justice and Equality in relation to Transformational Goal 5, is reflected well in the collaborative approaches and practices of the Probation Service and the Irish Prison Service in their dealings with the Oberstown Children Detention Campus where children and young people transitioning from detention to other settings is concerned.
