Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for the presentation this morning. I wish to ask one or two questions with regard to the information given to members on foot of our visit to Oberstown. It is an outstanding facility, albeit that all members were struck that notwithstanding the great, state-of-the-art school, the state-of-the-art building and the plans to have less segregation, more common areas, more integration and so on, it still is a detention centre. I wish to place on record the enthusiasm, energy and commitment of the staff who were present because their energy for their roles and the jobs they carry out was infectious. They are a great bunch of people. Notwithstanding this, however, one point I kept going over in my head in the days afterwards was that the woman who showed us around told us the vast majority of the young people who are there come back. They do not get rehabilitated and do not go away. She stated it was highly unusual for them to not recognise the name or know of a person who was coming to the facility because they already are being failed in other settings. They then enter Oberstown for three months, six months or sometimes longer; they do come back. For all of the money that is being spent, for all of the programmes in place, as well as the enthusiasm and commitment of staff, we are still not reaching or helping whatever the difficulties are with which the young people are presenting. As there are 90 spaces there at present, is there a long-term plan in place to only have a need for 40 or 20 spaces because of other programmes that are being used to reach people and communities?

In addition, issues were highlighted to members by the chief of staff there, in that there are ongoing human resources issues and rolling staff and roster issues with which he is not getting satisfaction. Are negotiations with senior management from the Department ongoing to assist with those issues? Why is the rate of sick leave still as high as it is in an institution that has such obvious commitment from the staff? Are there ongoing issues in this regard that must be addressed? In addition, I was amazed by the huge amount of money it costs to keep one young person there on an annual basis. The Minister might describe and explain to members why that is, when it does not appear to be having the desired effect of not having recurring visits from some of the younger people, who appear to keep coming back to the facility.