Detaining just one young offender costs €500,000 per year

IT costs as much as €500,000 a year to keep just one young offender in a detention centre, it emerged yesterday.

Despite the huge cost, there is no comprehensive tracking system in place to determine what happens to the children when they leave the detention facilities.

Therefore, the State has no way of knowing if the detention serves any purpose, or whether the money spent represents value for money, the Dáil Public Accounts Committee heard yesterday.