THE chairman of Limerick’s joint policing committee yesterday called for a high-security youth facility, from which three inmates escaped at the weekend, to be closed.

THE cash-strapped Health Service Executive is spending more than €4,800 weekly to operate a special care unit for two disturbed boys in Limerick, it emerged yesterday.

The State is spending almost €30 million a year on specialised care for 72 disturbed young people. The main issue in relation to this should not be the cost, but whether proper treatment is being provided.

THE Health Service Executive Mid-West was unable to say yesterday if a €5 million centre for disturbed youths, lying idle for nearly seven years, will open next month as planned.

THE Government’s deadline to have a special Limerick residential centre for troubled children in place by next year came into question yesterday when it was confirmed that recruitment of key staff has got bogged down.

THE €5 million centre built in Limerick four years ago to accommodate disturbed youths is still a huge financial burden on the Health Service Executive (HSE) Mid West, even though it remains shut.

A €4.2 million secure unit for juvenile delinquents which has been lying idle since April was the subject of top-level talks yesterday to review its future.