Martin Conway (Fine Gael)

I am concerned about the impact that certain elements of the capital expenditure review programme have had or will have, particularly in the area of juvenile detention. There is a clear commitment in the programme for Government that youths of 16 and 17 will no longer be detained in St. Patrick's Institution, which is part of the Mountjoy campus. Members of the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality, including me, visited the facility approximately two weeks ago. I would be far more comfortable if the proposed facility in Oberstown were developed properly. I call on the Leader to invite both the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Francis Fitzgerald, and the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, to the House as soon as possible, particularly in light of the comments made today by the Ombudsman for Children, Ms Emily Logan. The latter has overall responsibility for ensuring the rights of children are protected. Her intervention today is very timely and worrying.

I welcome the fact that the country has, for the first time, a senior Minister with responsibility for children, but we need clarity urgently. In the absence of funding being made available to upgrade the facility in Oberstown, we need both Ministers to tell the House their plans to cease detaining children in St. Patrick's Institution, given that the incarceration of 16 and 17 year olds in a prison environment is completely inappropriate and goes against all forms of international human rights. I would like the debate to be held as a matter of urgency, with the Ministers in attendance.