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

We have approval, in principle, for 67 new staff next year. An assumption was made by the board and everybody involved in the management of Oberstown that the new roster would provide the flexibility to open and use all of the beds there. There is much disappointment that it has not proved possible to do that. Sometimes there are historic practices in place in units which are very difficult to change.

The work in Oberstown is demanding on staff, but staff must also be flexible and, as the Secretary General said, willing to put children at the centre and make whatever efforts they can. The appointment of a line manager should greatly facilitate this because, effectively, three different organisations are coming together on the one campus which did not work together before. It might look easy from the outside to make these changes and to get these flexibilities in the system, but it has not proved that easy. A huge industrial relations effort was made and a considerable amount of time was spent by staff from the Irish Youth Justice Service and on the board, and those working on the campus, to arrive at what I agree with the Deputy is an unsatisfactory situation - that is, that there are beds which are not open. We have asked the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to recruit extra people. I regret that I have had to do that. It should have been possible to open those beds with roster changes, but it was not. Every effort has been made.

Ten staff have been on sick leave for more than a year. Clearly, there will be assault situations. When operating a detention system, one is dealing with young people who have very complex issues. We do everything to give support to the staff. There is continuous professional training available and there have been staff days. I have met the staff and I was very impressed with their commitment and the efforts they want to make to do the right thing by the young people there. I hope this situation can be brought to a satisfactory conclusion as quickly as possible. It is not for the want of effort by my Department, the IYJS, the board of management and everybody else.

I ask that all involved and all staff show the kind of flexibility we need because we are committing €50 million to that campus. We want to commit €50 million to a campus that works effectively for children and ensures the beds are available. I hope that has brought some clarity to the situation for the Deputies and Senator who asked questions in that regard.

The Child and Family Agency Bill will be referred to the select committee following Second Stage, which began in the Dáil yesterday. As Deputy Ó Caoláin said, it started much earlier than we had expected. I expected only spokespersons to speak yesterday.