New Board Of Management Appointed To Oberstown Detention School

A new Board of Management has been appointed to the Oberstown childrens detention school campus in Lusk, Co Dublin, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has announced.

Minister Katherine Zappone said: "I am very grateful to all of the members of the new board for their commitment to assist with the governance of the Oberstown children detention campus for the next 3 years.

"The new Oberstown Board will have an important role in ensuring the campus continues to provide safe and secure custody for children in detention and in addition, the safest possible working environment for staff. A programme of investment in the Oberstown campus, combined with necessary legal and operational reforms, has been underway in recent years and I want to thank the Oberstown workforce for their continued efforts in meeting the needs of children in custody."

The new Board will oversee the transfer of responsibility for 17 year old boys who are serving a sentence to Oberstown. This will take place on the earliest date possible in 2016, with the addition of a sufficient number of new care staff under a recruitment programme which is ongoing at present.

The Minister added: "The appointment of a new Oberstown Board is also a requirement for the amalgamation of the three children detention schools in Oberstown into a single legal entity, as provided for in section 14 of the Children (Amendment) Act 2015.

"The amalgamation of the children detention schools will complement the initiatives taken in recent years to create a "single campus" ethos in Oberstown, to improve governance and best use of resources and to support the development and expansion of the facilities there.

"I have now signed the required legal orders giving effect to the amalgamation from 1 June 2016. From this date, there will be just one children detention school in operation in Oberstown, known as the Oberstown Children Detention Campus."

(MH)