Ms Saoirse Brady:

What we are speaking about here we also speak about in the adult system. We are not trying to excuse behaviour but we really need to understand it if we want to effect change and change offending behaviour. There are instances where, if a young person poses a threat to public safety and where they have been given chances, maybe detention is appropriate for a particular period of time. We know there are young people going to Oberstown who require some of the intervention they get there. They may have dropped out of school or, for the first time, they get a diagnosis of neurodiversity, a mental health issue or a substance misuse issue. They should not have to go to detention to get these services but that is a reality of what is happening. It goes back to investing upstream in community services, prevention and early intervention, so they never reached a crisis level. Unfortunately some of them do.

There is a lot of discussion at the moment about capacity in Oberstown and it is the elephant in the room. I do not believe Oberstown needs to be expanded. We could expand it overnight but we would not have the staff to cope with the demand there. Looking at interventions such as bail supervision and restorative justice, it is not either-or. We have to assess each individual case on its own merits and see what is appropriate for that child or young person. What we all want to do is to stop the offending behaviour from happening in the first place, if possible, and where it has happened to help that young person rehabilitate and change their behaviour. On the other side of this, and I have mentioned it already, once they leave Oberstown we cannot expect them to maintain that behaviour by themselves if the proper supports are not in place for the aftercare, as Dr. Forde alluded to earlier.