Seanad debates

Thursday, 24 October 2002

If a judge remands a young offender and then finds there is no space for him or her to be detained in Oberstown or Trinity House, that can cloud the judge's focus in such a way that the young offender can walk away from a situation from which he or she otherwise would not. In that sense, there is little deterrent for young offenders because they know this is the situation and they probably know it better than some people working in the Four Courts. To his credit, the previous Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform set aside a portion of a prison to cater for young people convicted of serious crimes. I am not sure about the status of that provision, if it is still in existence or how it is working.

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