Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

68. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on the findings of the HIQA inspection of Oberstown children detention campus in regard to the concerns raised regarding periods of prolonged isolation; and the way in which she plans to address these concerns in order to safeguard the wellbeing of the children detained there. [50174/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

In March 2017 the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) undertook an inspection at Oberstown Children Detention Campus. A number of areas which require improvement were identified. An Action Plan to address these areas was agreed between HIQA and Oberstown and published on the HIQA website. I understand that work in this regard is progressing in line with the timetable agreed in the Action Plan.

I very much welcome the comprehensive Action Plan to address those areas identified by HIQA that require improvement, and I will keep the implementation of this Plan under review.

I think it is important to point out that the HIQA report also identified a number of positive improvements at the Campus since the previous report. These include access by children to advocates; that children knew how to make a complaint and children now have a greater voice over the choice of activities on the campus.

HIQA raised issues in the most recent Report and in previous reports in relation to single separation and the recording of same. It is my Department’s policy that the use of any restrictive practice should only be a measure of last resort and as part of a continuum of planned interventions. The decision to separate a young person must at all times be a proportionate response to the risk posed by the young person.

After the publication of my Department’s national policy on single separation in January 2017, a review of the Separation Policy for Oberstown took place, and the Oberstown Board of Management approved the revised Single Separation Policy in April 2017. Arising from this review, the separation procedures are also being reviewed and revised in line with the new policy. All staff are receiving refresher training on the revised policy and will receive training on the revised operational procedures also.

An improved system of record keeping on the use of single separation has been further informed by an audit review that looked at staff compliance with campus procedures and policies. In order to ensure compliance with procedures senior management must sign off on periods of separation and, following risk assessments, any reviews for an extension. This process has been strengthened by making senior management available to front line staff on a 24/7 basis to sanction the initiation or extension of a period of separation.

Children who are remanded or sentenced at Oberstown have multiple complex needs and vulnerabilities. Providing an ethos of care for children with such complex needs is essential in the safeguarding of children in detention on the Oberstown Campus.