TD says home for children left in chaos

The Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, and the Minister of State for Children, Mr Brian Lenihan, have been condemned for their failure to take "any obvious action" to deal with the chaos and crisis in a children's home.

A centre intended to "provide care for young people who are dysfunctional, is truly dysfunctional itself", Labour Party TD Ms Róisín Shortall said of the Finglas children's centre, in north Dublin.

It had deteriorated in four years from being a well-managed centre of excellence, into a place with constant reports of riots, assaults, absconding, ad hoc planning, high staff turnover, low bed occupancy, threatened industrial action and escalating annual budgets, she said. An inspector's report said that on occasions it "is not safe for young people or staff".

Just one third of its places were now occupied which meant that each one was costing €250,000 a year, at a time when no accommodation was available for young offenders with 40 or 50 charges against them.

Apart from ordering an inspection into the centre, the Government had failed to do anything and it was a scandal "that the Minister is allowing the most vulnerable and the most damaged children to be left in danger".

Naming the Minister for Education and the former minister, Dr Michael Woods, the Minister of State for Children and his predecessor Ms Mary Hanafin, she said that staff at the centre had made repeated representations to them, to local management, to the board of management and to the Department of Education's childcare adviser and numerous Department officials, to highlight the crisis and chaos at the centre.

Mr Lenihan, was not in the Dáil but speaking on his behalf, the Minister of State for Education, Ms Síle de Valera, said the Minister was aware of the ongoing difficulties and was "committed to addressing all the issues facing the centre".

A major programme of capital works was underway for the past three years at the centre, which had caused considerable disruption.

Some €14.9 million was being spent in the redevelopment, she said.

Ms Shortall said no obvious action had been taken since the then minister, Dr Woods ordered an inspection last March. The inspector, Mr Mike Laxton wrote a "damning" report in July which confirmed that the centre was in "acute crisis".

Ms de Valera said the Department of Education had got the views of management and staff about the future of the centre, and the inspector, Mr Laxton had been retained to monitor progress.