Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Ms Logan and thank her for her presentation which was very enlightening. I will ask questions on behalf of Deputy Ó Caoláin. I must apologise because I will need to leave the meeting as I am due to speak on the Bill in the Dáil.

It is a very positive step that the Ombudsman for Children's responsibility has been extended to cover children in the prison detention system. The change in emphasis with regard to children's detention centres as opposed to prisons is positive. The interests of children must be paramount. We must avoid creating another St. Patrick's institution. Will Oberstown have adequate staff and will they be suitably trained? What measures are required in this regard? The proposal for Oberstown staff to shadow St. Patrick's staff for a period was not implemented. Has a training needs assessment been carried out at Oberstown?

The number of hours lost to sick leave across the three schools on the campus between 1 September 2012 and 28 February 2013 is significant. At Oberstown girls school the figure was 460 hours, at Oberstown boys school the figure was 261 hours and at Trinity House school the figure was 1117 hours. This was before the new roster was introduced in February. Are more recent figures available? Is there an increase in the number of assaults, sick leave and breaches of health and safety? The Ombudsman for Children paints a negative picture as do staff working in Oberstown. How does this impact on the well-being of the children there and have such impacts been measured? Has the Ombudsman for Children spoken to the children there as she did to the children in St. Patrick's institution? If not will she do so? Has the Ombudsman for Children seen Victor McElfatrick's report? What are the outstanding complaints? Has the proposal for a mixed gender unit, which was originally scheduled to open on 25 July, been scrapped? Are we sure the capital project at Oberstown will be delivered on time and within budget?