John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I thank Deputy Shortall for raising this issue. I am not the Minister with responsibility for this area so I will read a prepared script. I hope it goes some way to answering some of the questions she has raised.

The future of the children detention school located in Finglas cannot be divorced from the future development of children detention schools services generally. The Irish Youth Justice Service, IYJS, which is an executive office of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and part of the office of the Minister of State with responsibility for children and youth affairs, operates the four children detention schools. Three of the schools, Trinity House, Oberstown Boys and Oberstown Girls, are sited on a 65 acre site in Lusk, County Dublin, and the fourth detention school, the Finglas Child and Adolescent Centre, is located on a separate site in Finglas, Dublin 11. The four detention schools have a capacity for 77 children and currently have 38 places occupied. There are also approximately 60 boys aged between 16 and 18 years of age currently detained in St. Patrick's Institution, a centre for young offenders aged 16 to 21, within the Mountjoy Prison complex.

In March 2008, the Government considered the report of a cross-Departmental expert group on the future development of children detention services. The Government approved the recommendation of this group to develop new national integrated children detention facilities on the campus at Oberstown, Lusk, in order to facilitate the expansion of the detention school model to 16/17 year old boys, who are currently held in St Patrick's Institution. The Government also approved the establishment of a working group to consider the future of the site and the future role for the Finglas Child and Adolescent Centre, FCAC. This group was established with representatives from Departments and agencies with responsibility for the provision of services for offending children and vulnerable children in the welfare and justice systems.

The working group completed its work and presented its report to the Minister of State with responsibility for children and youth affairs. The Minister of State has decided to accept the group's recommendations, including the following:

The planned new children detention school development at Oberstown will provide remand, assessment and detention services for all young offenders, boys and girls, under 18 years of age. It will provide all of the services currently provided by the FCAC.

The working group is of the view that the experience and skills of the FCAC staff will form a necessary part of the integrated detention school in Oberstown and recommends that the staff and services in FCAC transfer to the new development.

The development of FCAC as a hybrid facility for both care and offending young people would not be permissible under law and would not address any gap in services.

The working group does not see a continuing stand-alone role for residential assessments at the FCAC.

The buildings on the FCAC site are not suitable for long-term use as children's detention facilities. They would require significant mechanical, electrical and structural work simply to be maintained, even in the short-term, for any purpose. The estimated costs for replacement of the buildings, which would be required for any long-term facilities, are prohibitively high. The working group does not see a long-term use in the area of children's detention services for the site and recommends that the site be returned to the OPW to determine its appropriate future use.

The boards of management, director and staff were informed of the decision. Discussions are ongoing with staff and their representatives to implement the decision and to facilitate a smooth transition. The Minister of State is mindful of the need to finalise future plans as this will have implications for the staff currently employed there. The matter has been referred by the staff unions to the Labour Relations Commission and discussions took place there today.

The IYJS is responsible for providing safe and secure accommodation for children detained by the courts. The Minister of State with responsibility for children and youth affairs is satisfied that IYJS will be in a position to provide sufficient places within the existing detention school facilities to meet the needs of the courts for the detention of young offenders and, where appropriate, assessment.

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