MST in Ireland: more young offenders to be released on new bail scheme in Dublin
The Department of Justice is set to roll out an alternative to detention for juvenile offenders under new measures from junior youth justice minister Catherine Ardagh.
The move will help deal with the capacity problems at Oberstown in north Co Dublin — the country’s only detention facility for young offenders.
There are also plans to either expand capacity at Oberstown, where staffing levels have been the subject of a recent industrial dispute, or develop a second youth detention centre. Oberstown has a capacity for just 40 boys and six girls. Nearly 120 young people were detained there last year.
Ms Ardagh, who is currently drafting next year’s Youth Diversion Strategy, said she is working on expanding the bail supervision scheme (BSS) — an alternative to juvenile detention — nationwide. It is currently only in operation in Dublin, Cork and Limerick.
This scheme has a number of mandatory requirements, including “multi-systemic therapy”, a family therapy model designed to change behaviour at home, at school and within the community. It also involves strict compliance monitoring, including curfews, geographic restrictions and school attendance.
“Oberstown works well, but we want to see less people in it,” Ms Ardagh said. “I will be rolling out the bail supervision scheme across the country. It can be a good alternative for detention for some young people. There are capacity issues at Oberstown and, where possible, we want to see less young people detained and instead dealt with in the community.”
Ms Ardagh said the expansion of the scheme will be made possible after securing €11.5m for youth injustice initiatives in the budget. Early intervention and family support teams will also be expanded nationwide in a bid to divert young people away from criminality.