Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Question 611: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number and the proportion of inmates in youth offender institutions and prisons that were in Health Service Executive care as children in the most recent year for which data is available. [31020/07]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Children detention schools do not collate statistics specifically for children who have previously been in the care of the Health Service Executive but they take into account all know previous family circumstances, including periods where a child has been in the care of the Health Service Executive, in implementing personal care plans for each child in detention. Similarly in the Prison Service, the information requested by the Deputy is not contained on the files of committed prisoners. However, the Probation Service conducts interviews with all young offenders on committal to St. Patrick's Institution. During the course of these interviews, any prior contact between the offender and any relevant State agency is recorded.

The compilation of the information recorded in these interviews, would require a disproportionate and inordinate amount of staff time and effort to prepare. This could not be justified in current circumstances where there are other significant demands on resources.