Latest news with #Oberstown
Irish Times
11 hours ago
- Irish Times
Five Oberstown staff required hospital treatment following recent incidents
Nine staff at Oberstown Children Detention Campus were injured in an incident involving one young person on Wednesday, the trade union Forsa has said. The incident, during which improvised weapons were used, resulted in four staff being brought to hospital and a number being signed off work for up to a month. It comes as it emerged at the weekend that two young people, accused of being armed with a machine gun during a robbery in South Dublin, were freed due to lack of space at the State's main youth detention centre. On Tuesday, the Department of Children , which oversees Oberstown's operations, said it planned to increase capacity. READ MORE It would 'put in place the necessary resources to enable a small number of additional places to be made available in the near future'. Oberstown currently has capacity for 40 boys and six girls, and is accommodating 40 boys and one girl. Wednesday's violence was the third such incident since Sunday, June 8th, said a staff member who spoke to The Irish Times on condition of anonymity. These had left five people requiring hospital treatment. 'The most serious incident happened Wednesday last week in a remand unit on the campus. During an attempt to move a young person who had previously assaulted a member of staff, a residential social care worker had their face sliced open. They required immediate emergency hospitalisation,' he said. Forsa said there was 'a growing crisis in workplace safety' at the facility. Senior management was 'failing in their duty of care' to staff and this was exacerbating a crisis in staff recruitment and retention, it said. 'Just two out of 10 staff recruited at the start of the year remain,' said the union. [ 'It's not a prison': Inside Oberstown child detention campus Opens in new window ] The staff member said an increasing focus from management on the 'care' of the young people had resulted in inadequate attention to the 'safety'. The complexity of the young people's needs was increasing and the crimes for which they were sentenced more violent. 'The young people used to be coming in for robberies, robbing cars. Now it's all murder, attempted murder, rape, sexual assault. 'We have young people testing positive for crack, cocaine, multiple drugs.' The young people as well as staff were affected by the violence, he added. 'You have young people we have built huge relationships with, and then they see someone walk past, their head covered in blood, and we're meant to just move on. The system is normalising this. 'Staff are stressed, injured, burnt out.' Forsa said staff reiterated their call for 'more effective restraint techniques and the provision of appropriate personal protective equipment. 'Repeated warnings to senior management, about the risks facing staff, have been consistently ignored,' he said. 'Management's failure to recognise and address ongoing problems can no longer be ignored: we are witnessing a complete failure to uphold basic health and safety obligations. Our members are being placed in harm's way every day with no adequate response or accountability.' A Hiqa report last year found the 38 young people then present were having to stay in their bedrooms for periods to facilitate breaks due to insufficient staff. It found the young people on-site generally received 'good-quality, child-centred care'. Both Oberstown management and the Department of Children have been contacted for comment.
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Irish Times
Capacity at Oberstown Child Detention Campus to be slightly extended
A 'small number' of additional places are to be created at the Oberstown Child Detention Campus in Dublin, which has been operating 'at or near capacity' for months, officials have said. It emerged this week that a lack of space at the State's main youth detention centre resulted in two Dublin teenagers, who are accused of being armed with a machine gun during a burglary, being freed at the weekend . The maximum occupancy at Oberstown, set by the Minister for Children, is currently 46 – made up of 40 boys and six girls. One of the boys who was released on Saturday night failed to attend his subsequent court hearing on Monday and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. READ MORE The two 17-year-olds and two men had been refused bail on Saturday after a judge heard a 60-year-old man was allegedly 'savagely' beaten in front of his terrified family when armed intruders forced entry into their home in Shankill, Co Dublin, on June 11th. All four were charged with aggravated burglary and unlawful possession of a Skorpion machine pistol. However, Oberstown had no room to take the two 17-year-olds, despite the judge's decision. In a statement on Tuesday, the Department of Children said it 'monitors occupancy rates in Oberstown Children Detention Campus closely and is aware that the campus has been operating at or near capacity in recent months'. 'In light of this the department is working with Oberstown to put in place the necessary resources to enable a small number of additional places to be made available in the near future. The department is also carrying out a research assessment to determine future demand for Oberstown services over the longer term,' it said. Minister for Children Norma Foley recently met Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan , it said, with both committed to 'ensuring the underpinning of appropriate sentencing policy for children both in terms of detention and community sanctions'. This includes children serving sentences of detention and children who have been remanded by the courts. The department pointed out that because the maximum occupancy is set by the Minister, 'overcrowding does not occur at Oberstown'.
