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SOME 132 CHILDREN have been sent to detention schools in Ireland so far this year, compared to 133 for the whole of 2013 and 134 in 2012.
80 children were sent to the institutions from July-September of this year.
At present, there are 43 children in detention schools – 40 male and 3 female.
Minister for Children and Youth Affairs James Reilly recently told the Dáil that some of these children were remanded in custody, while others were serving a sentence of detention.
Replying to a parliamentary question asked by Deputy Thomas Broughan, Reilly said that 34 (43%) of the 80 children sent to the schools during the summer had been assigned a social worker.
Of this 34, 12 (35%) have been the subject of a recent care order under the Child Care Acts.
Overall, 13 of the 80 children sent to the detention schools in this period have been the subject of recent care orders, representing 16%.
Reilly said that the Irish Youth Justice Service (IYJS), which is part of his department, “continues to work to progress its goal to strengthen and develop its evidence base in order to support more effective policies and services for children in conflict with the law, which is one of the goals of the current Youth Justice Action Plan for the period 2014-2018″.
The minister added that the IYJS is continuing to collect “information on children admitted to the children detention schools with regard to their involvement with social workers and/or the care system”.
A spokesperson for the Department of Children and Youth Affairs said there is “regular movement” into and out of detention schools as a result of individual decisions made in the courts system.
There are three children detention schools in Ireland – Trinity House School, Oberstown Boys School and Oberstown Girls School. All three are located on the same campus at Oberstown, near Lusk in County Dublin.
The schools provide places for children to be detained in custody in relation to criminal charges.
This can be when a court remands a child in custody or, following a conviction, when a child is sentenced either to a period of detention only or for a period of detention to be followed by supervision in the community by the Probation Service.
A court will generally only send a child to one of the detention schools once it is satisfied that no other suitable option is available.
As set out in the Children Act 2001, the principal objective of the schools is to provide care, education and training for children, with a view to reintegrating them into society.
From 1 January 2012, responsibility for these detention schools transferred from the Minister for Justice and Equality to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs.
Trinity House School and Oberstown Boys School are designated as remand centres for boys under 17 years of age and Oberstown Girls School is designated as a remand centre for girls under 18 years of age.
Last month, the Children (Amendment) Bill 2014 proposed that all three institutions will be amalgamated.
The new legislation will also remove provisions that allow for 17-year-olds to be held in adult facilities.
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Respect and manners go hand in hand,
One has to be earned and the other has to be learned from an early age….
Sadly both are missing in some kids these days….
It’s a breakdown in marriage and traditional family set up – and the problem is only going to get worse as liberalism takes further hold on society.
@Wesole
I am in favour of the institution of marriage but there are many people who were born into non-traditional families who are good and some people who were born into traditional families are bad.
Not enough of these so called children are locked up. They are violent and have a total lack of regard for decent honest people.
Before these kids are sent to detention schools they’ve already been given umpteen chances through the JLO system and probably have accumulated a number of serious charges before detention is even considered. Children’s court is too lenient, it teaches them that crime in somewhat pays and not to take responsibility for their actions.
We’ve failed once we’re jailing kids.
@Joe
Maybe they were detained as a last resort or, if it’s for their first offence, the offence was extremely serious.
I went to the Greta Garbo school for wayward boys and girls. Didn’t do me any harm.
Not enough
The numbers suggest 131 in 2015
What happened to Warrenstown house in blanch and St Annes in Stillorgan
The headline annoys me ‘How many Children were sent to detention schools this year?’ I think it implies that innocent little children are being sent away. This is not the case. To be fair, they are given chance after chance before they get a JLO & then more chances before they go to court & even more chances before they are sent away to a detention centre. They have access to supports like school completion workers, after school homework clubs, one to one tuition, various youth clubs, fantastic activities, loads of agencies working with them etc – the point being they have more support offered to them than any law abiding ‘child’. I don’t doubt they have troubled backgrounds but that is no excuse for criminal behaviour. These ‘children’ can be very intimidating to others & are only sent away as a last resort.
have your say