Parliamentary Question: Juvenile Offenders

18th April 2002

155. Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of remand and long-term places for young offenders; the locations of same; the number which are actually in use; and his plans in respect of the provision of such places over the next five years. [12244/02]

Minister for Education and Science (Dr. Woods): My Department has statutory responsibility for the provision of residential places for children up to the age of 16 years who are referred by the courts. There are five young offender centres under the aegis of my Department and they currently provide residential accommodation for up to 162 children, this includes up to 31 remand places. The current operational capacity is 132 places. The following table provides a breakdown of these places.*
*Download table.