Inmates may be moved shortly

Seventeen-year-old inmates at St Patrick’s Institute for Young Offenders could be moved out of the facility in the near future, Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald said yesterday.

She told the Joint Committee on Health and Children that 27 teenagers aged 17 are in the facility, which was the subject of a critical report from the Inspector of Prisons this week.

Ms Fitzgerald said that while Justice Minister Alan Shatter intends for St Patrick’s to close, the 17-year-olds could be transferred to the Oberstown unit in North Dublin.

Ms Fitzgerald said in addition to State funding for the development of Oberstown, planning permission had been granted for a new building on the campus and it was intended to move the 27 teenagers “as quickly as possible once we have the facilities”.

She said changes in staffing arrangements at Oberstown were to be completed shortly and this might facilitate the transfer of some of the teenagers.

Ms Fitzgerald said the report on St Patrick’s was “damning evidence of the regime there”.

She said she hoped her department would soon publish audits into child welfare and abuse cases in Roscommon, Dublin, and Waterford. The audits were sparked by the horrors of the Roscommon abuse case.

Ms Fitzgerald said there had been “a lot of progress in Roscommon” and that more local and regional data should be available on child abuse cases in future, as a new ICT system was now in place and Hiqa is to commence monitoring of national standards from next month.

Ms Fitzgerald also fielded questions on the upcoming children’s rights referendum, claiming it was not about giving greater power to the State but instead on providing a greater focus on children and their views.

Fianna Fáil TD Robert Troy expressed concern at “the lack of traction” and debate over the referendum.

Independent senator Gillian Van Turnhout said nobody was monitoring national child protection standards in the Direct Provision system.