Troubled youths - State fails to provide again

Last year over €2.3 million was spent on sending 15 troubled young people abroad for specialist care.

This was a significant increase on the more than €800,000 spent on sending nine young people abroad for treatment in 2009.

Some of the costs are staggering, such as a place in secure care in Scotland, costing £478,000 annually, or specialist therapeutic care in the famous Boystown, Nebraska, at the cost of €356,000 annually. By comparison, the therapeutic care in Hassela Gotland, Sweden, seems almost like a bargain at €140,000 annually. The Hassela Gotland detention centre for youths is located on a remote island in the Baltic Sea. Two other Irish children were sent there for help in recent years.