Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes, I understand. I thank the Deputies and Senator for their comments and questions. Deputy Ó Caoláin and Senator van Turnhout asked about Oberstown. When I came into office Oberstown was quite under-utilised but had a lot of staff and the beds were not used fully. As the members will know, many children are now diverted from detention to community placement and supervision. Crime is also down among that age group, which is welcome.

Last year there was no problem getting a bed at Oberstown for a 16 year old. We took the decision to move 16 year olds and I stand by that decision because it was the right thing to do. No 16 year old has been in St. Pat's for the past year, which is right, and this is due to the decision taken by me and the Government. We have the opposite problem now at Oberstown because there has been a dramatic increase in referrals in the past three months. For a range of reasons the courts have sought more places than at any time in previous years when 16 year olds were in St. Patrick's or when they moved initially to Oberstown. With regard to staffing, Oberstown has 90 care staff, 35 night care staff, 17 management and 45 other staff, and the total is 187.

I will also outline what I, the staff at Oberstown, the IYJS and the extremely good board are doing. My appointment of the board members was based on their expertise and what they could bring to the management of Oberstown. The board is chaired by Mr. Joe Horan. Many of the board members have expertise in youth justice, which is precisely the reason I appointed them. There has been no shortage of professional input, and great efforts have been made to deal with many issues. Oberstown is an historic institution which had, surprisingly, three separate units. I wonder why it was not under a single management. No other government put single management in place but the Government is doing so now. No other government established a roster system that meant that staff could move between three units. They should have had mobility because they had to deal with young people in detention, mostly young boys and occasionally young girls. Clearly, staff should have been able to move between units, but it took us two years to reach agreement on movement. We went to the Labour Relations Commission and got changes made, and a roster has been in operation since February.

Following an increase in referrals, we have examined ways to create extra beds. Negotiations took place for a number of weeks on the possibility of changing part of the area designated for young girls to allow boys to use the space. However, it did not prove practical or desirable in the long run. Members are right in stating we are still in a situation in which we must make extra beds available. It appears the only way forward is to hire more staff, in the first place, on an interim basis. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has approved quite a lot of extra staff for next year. I welcome the agreement to have the extra staff because all of the 16 and 17 year olds will be on-site. However, we still have not been able to make the extra beds available. I shall ask my Secretary General to comment on the initiative and efforts that are under way. We held meetings with the two unions involved, the most recent of which took place last week, to try to ensure that beds would become available.