Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 134: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, further to Question No. 193 of 4 February 2010, if he will report on the precise occasions on which the youth justice service engaged with staff interests in the Finglas child and adolescent service in respect of his Department's proposals to relocate this service to Oberstown; and if, in the absence of basic information regarding the future careers of these staff members, he will take steps to ensure that staff are no longer left in the dark in this regard. [8338/10]

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The position is as set out in my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 193 on 4th February, 2010. I have also of course dealt with this matter in previous replies to a number of Parliamentary Questions.

I can confirm that the Board of Management, Director of the Centre, and all of the Unions representing staff working in the Centre were informed of my decision to close the Centre last August. Discussions with the Unions on arrangements for closure of the Centre have been ongoing since then.

At the request of SIPTU, one of the unions involved, the matter was first referred for conciliation to the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) in August 2009, and the first conciliation conference took place on 24 September, 2009. IMPACT, which has a number of members in the centre, is also involved in this process.

I am informed by the Irish Youth Justice Service (IYJS) that the parties have met in the LRC on two occasions since then - 20 November 2009 and most recently last week, 8 February, 2010, when the IYJS presented its proposals for consideration in relation to the closure and the transfer of staff and services. The parties also met on 21 December 2009 in the Centre to progress matters. IYJS is actively engaged in this process and intends to provide additional information at the request of the conciliation officer, at the next meeting in the LRC which is due to take place later this week. There is also ongoing continuous dialogue with the Director of the Centre, outside of the LRC process, with regard to all relevant issues in this regard.

I am further informed that the Directors and other senior managers from all of the Detention Schools meet regularly with senior managers from the IYJS to deal with the integration of the services and functions of the schools, including the integration of services and staff from the Finglas Centre to the remaining schools which are located in Oberstown, Lusk, County Dublin. These discussions are ongoing and are chaired by the National Director of the IYJS.

I appreciate the implications for the staff involved but I hope that agreement can be reached on the arrangements that need to be made and I have asked that my officials continue to keep me updated in this regard.