Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 105: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if it is intended to detain young offenders at the planned Thornton Hall Prison complex in north Dublin; if he is satisfied that this plan is consistent with Ireland's obligations under international conventions that prohibit the jailing of juveniles in adult places of detention; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8969/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Children Act 2001, as amended, provides for the extension of the children detention school model to all children under the age of 18 years who are ordered to be detained by the Courts. An Expert Group on Children Detention Schools was tasked by the Minister for Children in 2006 to initiate and plan for the necessary redevelopment of existing children detention schools including the development of new facilities to accommodate the 16 to 17 year age group who are currently accommodated in St. Patrick's Institution and to advise accordingly. The Expert Group's final report has been submitted to my colleague the Minister for Children in December 2007 and he has given consideration to the matter and will make an announcement shortly.

The redevelopment of children detention school places will take time as it requires detailed planning, design and consultation with stakeholders to ensure that high quality facilities are created. In the interim it is necessary to retain the use of St. Patrick's Institution until suitable children detention school places can be created with regard to 16 and 17 year old boys.

As all prison accommodation on the Mountjoy site, including St. Patrick's Institution, is to be closed it is necessary to make provision for interim accommodation, should it be required, for 16 and 17 year old boys on the Thornton Hall campus. The campus structure of Thornton Hall will ensure that a facility for 16 and 17 year old boys is segregated from facilities being used by adult offenders. On completion of the detention school development project all children under 18 years of age being detained will only be accommodated in dedicated children facilities. This is compatible with UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and as provided for in the Children Act 2001, as amended.