Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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318. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will report to Dáil Éireann on the progress achieved to date in refurbishing and extending Oberstown House; and the remand arrangements that will be put in place at the newly refurbished detention centre. [36472/14]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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There is a commitment in the Programme for Government to end the practice of detaining children in adult prison facilities, which under the Children Act 2001 means all young people up to the age of 18 years. This will be met in full later this year when the extension of the Oberstown campus results in the transfer of responsibility for 17 year old boys from the adult prison system to the children detention schools.

Following the appointment of a main contractor and a number of sub-contractors, construction on the Oberstown development project started on site on 23 September 2013. The project will provide sufficient new detention places to enable the extension of the child care model of detention to all under 18 year olds ordered to be remanded or committed by the courts on criminal justice charges. I am advised that the first 3 units of residential accommodation are scheduled to be delivered by the end of this year, in order to facilitate the transfer of responsibility for 17 year old boys from the adult prison system. A further 3 residential units, to be delivered in 2015, will replace existing detention buildings used by Oberstown Boys School and Oberstown Girls School which have reached the end of their useful life. The Office of Public Works (OPW) is overseeing the delivery of the project on behalf of my Department with the main contractor involved, BAM Building Ltd.

Once the new development is in place all children up to the age of 18 on admission who are remanded in custody on criminal charges will be detained at the Oberstown Campus. Remand in custody to a children detention facility falls under section 88 of the Children Act 2001. Section 88(8) of that Act provides that those being detained on remand will, as far as is practicable and where it is in the best interests of the child, be kept separate from children being detained who are serving a sentence of detention. This provision will inform the location of children on an operational basis when the new detention facilities are in use. Children being detained on remand will also have access to medical, educational and recreational facilities appropriate to their needs.