Children Detention Schools

A child can be ordered to be detained by the Courts to either a detention school or to St. Patrick's Institution in  Dublin. The Courts will only sentence a child to a detention school as a last resort.

The Children Act 2001, as amended, transferred responsibility for detention schools from the Minister for Education and Science to the Minister for Justice and Law Reform. The Act also states that the detention school model of care, education and rehabilitation will be extended to include 16 and 17 year-olds. The legislation makes it illegal to order the detention of a child (with effect from 1 March 2007) under 18 years old to a prison.

There are currently three detention schools where a child can be detained by the Courts, all three of which are located on the Oberstown campus, Lusk, Co Dublin. These are:

• Trinity House, Lusk
• Oberstown Boys School, Lusk
• Oberstown Girls School, Lusk

The Irish Youth Justice Service is responsible for managing the children detention schools and is taking steps to develop children detention school places for 16 and 17 year-olds, creating a national detention facility on the existing Oberstown campus. The Expert Group on Children Detention Schools submitted its final report to the Minister for Children in December 2007. In line with the recommendations in this report, the development of the new national children detention facilities was approved by Government in March 2008.  Consultation has led to the completion of design drawings needed to proceed to the planning process. The planning notice for the development of the campus, which includes the retention of a number of the existing buildings, was placed in the national media on 21 May 2010.  The facility will be developed to ensure an integrated and unified service to children remanded and committed by the Courts. Until these places are available, St. Patrick's Institution will continue to be used for 16 and 17 year-old boys.