Parliamentary Question: Juvenile Offenders

2nd June 2004

221.  Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if persons under 18 in prisons are always segregated from those over that age; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16756/04]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. McDowell):  My responsibility, as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, for the custody of juveniles is, in normal circumstances, limited to male offenders aged 16 and over and female offenders aged 17 and over. However, 15 year old male offenders and 15 and 16 year old female offenders may be committed to prison in exceptional circumstances. This should occur only in cases where the court certifies under the provisions of sections 97 and 102 of the Children Act 1908 that the young person is so unruly or depraved of character that he or she cannot be detained in a place of detention provided under Part V of that Act. Such committals are used only as a last resort by the courts and, therefore, the number of 15 year old males and 15 or 16 year old females committed to prison each year on such certificates of unruliness is low.

Every effort is made to separate juvenile offenders from the general prison population in each institution. In practice, the vast majority of male offenders aged 16 and 17 years are held in St Patrick's Institution, which is a closed institution reserved in law exclusively for offenders aged 16 to 21 years. For example, on 31 May 2004 there were 75 persons under the age of 18 in custody, 64 of whom were detained in St Patrick's Institution. The few held in the more traditional adult prisons are accommodated with other young offenders or with other carefully selected prisoners.

Under the Children Act, I, as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, will be obliged to provide separate detention facilities for 16 and 17 year old boys and girls who are committed to custody by the courts, either on remand or under sentence. These secure detention centres will operate under their own unique regime which will cater specifically for the needs of juvenile offenders. The plans for the new Mountjoy and Spike Island Prison complexes will include such detention centres with separate sections devoted to both male and females aged 16 to 17 year olds.