Mr. Pat Bergin:

Remand is a core issue; it is a big issue for us. The number of young people on remand is substantial. The figures I would like to put out are that of all the young people who came through the campus for the first nine months, 19 were placed on committal orders. The remainder of the young people who came in were on remand-turnover, and they create substantial challenges for us because they do not buy into the campus because they are on remand. They hope to be gone from the campus next week or the week after, so they do not engage in the same way. From our perspective, we would ask why young people are remanded. A decision has been made by the courts that we are to hold young people for a period of time until a decision is made as to whether they are guilty or not guilty. Regarding the figure of 86%, some of those young people may be found guilty and other sanctions may be put in place for them but they have been on remand with us for a length of time, so the experience of detention is not something that we would consider all of them would require. There is a challenge with the system putting young people on remand with us for a period of time, and they could be long-term remands. A remand could be for one week but it could be for five or six months, and that is a major challenge for us. A bail supervision scheme is coming into operation in two to three weeks' time on the campus, which will allow young people who are on remand to get bail, possibly depending on the assessment, but the key problem is that those young people must be on remand to access the scheme. However, the overall approach to young people being placed on remand in the campus is a worryingly increasing trend.