Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

I am grateful to the two Deputies for raising the issue of St. Patrick's Institution. Following a review of the youth justice system, the Government agreed in December to a number of reforms, including amendment of the Children Act 2001, which has since been included in the Criminal Justice Act 2006, and the establishment of an Irish Youth Justice Service. The issue of the accommodation of juvenile offenders in child detention schools comes within the scope of those reforms. As of 1 March 2007, responsibility for all child detention schools, for the detention of children under the age of 16, has transferred from the Department of Education and Science to the Irish Youth Justice Service, which is an executive office in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform under the political management of my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Lenihan.

All young female offenders in detention up to the age of 18 will now also be detained in child detention schools. Young male offenders aged 16 and 17 will remain the responsibility of the Irish Prison Service until additional spaces have been provided for them in child detention schools. The construction of child detention school places, which can accommodate 16 and 17 year old males with the requisite facilities to provide care and education, will take a period of time to complete. As an interim arrangement only, males between 16 and 17 years are being detained in St. Patrick's Institution, as provided for under the Criminal Justice Act 2001, as amended by the 2006 Act. No child under 18 may be remanded or sentenced to a period of detention in any other adult facility.

We are working to a three-year timeframe so that by 2010 we will be able to scrap the existing arrangements. In the complex at Thornton Hall, there will be an area for younger offenders. To replace some of the secure facilities that are needed at the moment, it is not possible simply to——

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