The country’s main youth detention centre is down seven staff on any given week due to absenteeism, with new figures showing 1,668 rostered days — roughly seven staff a week —lost there last year.

A district judge who complained that reports from the Oberstown youth detention and education centre in Dublin are meaningless and unhelpful to the court was told yesterday that the emphasis was on providing therapy to the youths, but that his concern about reports would be examined.

The conference was organised by the Irish Penal Reform Trust, which published a report calling on the Department of Justice to devise a specific strategy for young adults to mirror the juvenile justice system.

A youth justice charity has called on the Government to commit resources to divert young offenders from crime and to support their families.

There were more than 200 significant or critical incidents involving young people in the Oberstown youth detention facility in a period of less than three years, according to figures released by the Department of Children.

All young people sentenced to St Patrick’s Institution have been transferred out of the detention facility — which has been dogged by controversy and scandal.

State services are now operating a “pass the parcel” system when dealing with troubled teens, a District Court judge has warned.

Three boys who absconded from a youth detention centre in north Dublin earlier this week have yet to be found.

A 13-year-old boy, who “mooned” at gardaí when he blatantly broke his bail terms, avoided being remanded in custody today as a result of the on-going shortage of juvenile detention spaces.

A row over the chronic shortage of detention centre spaces for young offenders has intensified after a judge demanded immediate action from Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald to deal with the crisis.

The last 16-year-old boy in an adult jail has been released in what was seen as a “milestone” for the country.

IT IS a “national disgrace” that some children are being sent overseas on care placements, a conference was told yesterday.

More than 300 children aged 11 or younger went through the Garda youth diversion programme last year.

COMMUNITY crime diversion programmes dealt with 1,000 more children last year than they did in 2008.

A NEW assessment and intervention service for young people in special care and detention will provide on-site specialist therapeutic care and intervene in crisis cases where previous services were not adequate.

A PLEDGE to end the practice of sending children to St Patrick’s detention centre in the new Programme for Government has been given a guarded but sceptical welcome by the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT).

TEENAGERS who are part of Garda schemes to help divert them away from crime are likely to be from families where there is alcohol abuse, a history of criminal activity and ineffective parenting.

CHILDREN’S Minister Barry Andrews said the long delay in preparing a report into the death of a teenager in state care eight years ago was indefensible.

THE crime rate among young offenders – some of whom had 35 convictions – plummeted by 64% under a new Garda scheme being rolled out across the country.

ALCOHOL is a critical factor in about half of all recorded juvenile crime, according to a report.

Half of all youth crime is committed in situations where alcohol has been consumed, according to a report published today by the Irish Youth Justice Service.

THE name of the boat, Charge Sheet, moored in Malahide yesterday provided a wry clue to the background of the young men who painstakingly restored the vessel over the past 12 months.

A HIGH-LEVEL group to oversee children’s justice issues is set to be announced today when the Government reveals its National Youth Justice Strategy.

Care, rehabilitation and education is needed to divert children from a future life of crime, it was claimed tonight.

A NEW advisory board that will co-ordinate services for troubled teenagers and children was launched yesterday.

A top level review of Garda efforts to monitor sex offenders and paedophiles has been ordered by Government.