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Frances Fitzgerald TD., Minister for Children and Youth Affairs today welcomed the publication by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, Alan Shatter TD, of the Inspector of Prisons Report on St Patrick’s Institution.

Minister Fitzgerald stated: “I welcome Minister Shatter’s publication of the Inspector of Prisons Report on St Patrick’s Institution and his announcement of a comprehensive plan by the Irish Prison Service to address the serious issues raised in the report. This plan must be implemented as a matter of urgency. The report addresses issues which relate to the implementation of the best possible standards of detention for all young people detained in St Patrick’s Institution, which currently includes young males aged from 17 to 21 years of age.”

The Minister said that the report findings, which were scathingly critical of practices at St Patrick’s Institution, “are shocking and unacceptable”

In particular the Minister expressed grave concern at the Inspector’s conclusion that “there is a culture in St Patrick’s which results in the human rights of some prisoners (children and young adults) being either ignored or violated.”

The Inspector’s report identifies significant concerns in relation the welfare of the children detained.

Issues highlighted by the Inspector include:

• the prohibition of family visits as a disciplinary measure;

• prison healthcare and education services;

• the use of special cells for safety and close supervision;

• prevalence of drugs;

• the use of control and restraint techniques contrary to established guidelines;

• flawed and incomplete investigations into prisoner complaints.

The Inspector describes the forcible removing of prisoner’s clothing as degrading and a form of punishment. The Inspector is also highly critical of some prison staff and identifies a culture of bullying involving a minority of prison officers.

The Inspector concluded that ‘St Patrick’s has not lived up to the mission statement of the Irish Prison Service.’

The Minister said that this report justifies her and the Government’s decision to end the practice of detaining 16 and 17 year olds in St. St Patrick’s through developing National Child Detention Facilities at Oberstown in Co. Dublin, which Minister Fitzgerald announced in April 2012.

The Minister stated: “This damning report provides yet further evidence, if ever it was needed, of the fact that accommodating children in adult prison facilities is wrong. As Minister for Children and Youth Affairs I was determined to end this practice and early in my Ministry I secured the funding to bring about this change.

Responding to the Inspector’s findings that the basic human rights of children detained in St. Patrick’s were either ignored or violated, the Minister added that it was timely that the Children’s Referendum is currently before the people for decision given that the Referendum includes a proposal to give explicit reference to the protection of children rights.

The Minister added: “However it should also be evident from the programme of investment currently underway that this Government’s commitment to improving children’s rights and welfare extends not just to proposed constitutional change but also to providing the resources necessary for real change.”

Commenting on the development of National Child Detention Facilities at Oberstown, Minister Fitzgerald stated: “Since assuming responsibility for the children detention system in January of this year, I have worked with my colleagues in Government on a range of actions to end the practice of detaining children in St Patrick’s Institution which is of course an adult institution.”

“First of all, in April of this year I announced a capital investment package for the Oberstown children detention schools project. This will result in sufficient capacity to extend the child care model of detention to all young people under the age of 18 years by mid 2014.”

“Secondly, I ended the practice of detaining 16 year old boys in St Patrick’s Institution on 1 May 2012 by using existing capacity that was available on the Oberstown children detention school campus in Lusk, Co Dublin. Since July 2012 there have been no 16 year old boys detained in St Patrick’s Institution.”

Minister Fitzgerald confirmed that in consultation with her colleague Alan Shatter TD, Minister for Justice and Equality, they had extended the remit of the Ombudsman for Children from July 2012 to include all boys under 18 years of age detained in St Patrick’s Institution and at present.

The Minister added: “While St Patrick’s Institution accommodates males up the age of 21 years, I have a particular focus on ensuring that the accommodation standards of children in the facility are implemented in a manner that meets the best possible standards. I welcome the recent development of a proposal for the temporary placement of a number of care staff from the children detention schools in Oberstown to St Patrick’s Institution, as part of a joint initiative to improve child care practices for the 17 year old age group in that facility. I am keen to see this implemented within the next two months.

In addition, while the Oberstown development project will result in sufficient capacity in Oberstown for all children in detention by mid 2014, I intend to examine the feasibility of accommodating some categories of the 17 year old age group before that date. I have asked the Oberstown Board of Management and the Irish Youth Justice Service to keep this matter under review based on the trend of occupancy on the campus under the recent change in age categories and to report to me no later than February 2013 on this matter”.

Minister Fitzgerald is also currently pursuing the development of enhanced provision of specialist therapeutic services for children in residential institutions, in both the children detention schools and special care units operated by the Health Service Executive. A specialist multi disciplinary service is being established for this purpose and a Director for this service was recently appointed by the Health Service Executive (HSE).

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Editors Notes:

The Inspector of Prisons Report on St Patrick’s Institution and the Irish Prison Service Action Plan for implementing his recommendations are available on the website of the Department of Justice and Equality at www.justice.ie

Oberstown Children’s Detention Facilities - There are three children detention schools in operation, all located on the Oberstown campus at Lusk, Co. Dublin. These are Trinity House School, Oberstown Boys School and Oberstown Girls School. The total current operational capacity on the campus is 44 places for males and 8 places for females. Under current arrangements, the children detention schools are authorised to detain males up to the age of 17 years and females up to the age of 18 years. The buildings accommodating Oberstown Boy’s School are in need of replacement. The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs assumed responsibility for the children’s detention schools in January 2012.

St. Patrick’s Institution – St. Patrick’s Institution, North Circular Road, Dublin is an Irish Prison Service facility which provides detention places for boys aged 16 and 17 years of age, under a transitional provision in the Children Act 2001. The Institution also accommodates males over 18 years of age. The overall capacity is 214 places for 17 to 21 year olds. The Minister for Justice and Equality retains legal responsibility for St Patrick’s Institution, as part of the prison estate managed by the Irish Prison Service.

The following measures have already been implemented by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in support of the ending of detention of children in St Patrick’s Institution:

• announcement on 2April 2012 of a capital investment package to update and extend the children detention facilities in Oberstown, Lusk, Co Dublin in order to provide sufficient capacity to extend the child care model of detention to all young people under the age of 18 years.

• from 1 May 2012, responsibility for detention of 16 year old boys was transferred from St Patrick’s Institution to the Oberstown campus. Since July 2012 there have been no 16 year old boys detained in St Patrick’s.

• ongoing work toward the development of enhanced provision of specialist therapeutic services for children in residential institutions, in both the children detention schools and special care units operated by the Health Service Executive. A specialist multi disciplinary service is being established for this purpose and a Director for this service was recently appointed by the Health Service Executive (HSE).

• the remit of the Ombudsman for Children was extended to include children detained in St Patrick’s Institution on 1 July 2012.

• ongoing work on the introduction of amendments to the Children’s Act 2001 to provide for the management of all facilities on the Oberstown campus (i.e. Oberstown Boy’s School, Trinity House School and Oberstown Girl’s School) on an integrated basis