Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

Does the Minister of State agree it is unacceptable that legislation which was passed in 2001 should take six or seven years to be commenced by ministerial order? Does he accept that this makes a mockery of the rules of this House?

Will the new campus at Oberstown be largely modelled on the Woodlands juvenile justice centre in Bangor, County Down? What types of facilities will be provided there? Can the Minister of State provide a projected opening date and will he indicate whether this proposal is immune from the budgetary cuts expected to be announced today?

Following from the point made by Deputy Joe Carey, is the Minister aware that the placing of 16 and 17 year olds in Thornton Hall, should that occur after its construction, could result in the State being in violation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child? Children must not be placed in what is designed as an adult facility.

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