Oberstown’s failure to meet standards must be addressed immediately

HIQA report shows Oberstown Children Detention School failed to meet nine out of ten standards

The Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, has expressed his disappointment at the failure of Oberstown Children Detention School to meet nine out of ten standards set by HIQA. The Ombudsman was speaking following the publication of HIQA’s report into an inspection carried out at Oberstown in November 2015.

“HIQA’s report shows that Oberstown met the required standard only in the area of Education, while improvement was needed in the areas of children’s rights, care of children and child protection. Worryingly, a significant risk was also identified in relation to staffing and management.

“The impact of staff shortages is abundantly clear throughout this report. While it is evident that the staff in place are doing a very good job with the resources available, it is clear that shortages are making it more difficult to build relationships with children. This is having a direct impact on the service available.

“Unit managers also reported that they had difficulty in carrying out their role due to the volume of work they have to get through. Again this is having a knock on effect on care plans and record keeping.

“It should be acknowledged that Oberstown has gone through a period of significant change in the past twelve months as three separate schools were combined into one. While this does explain some of the issues highlighted, it is still not good enough that the facility was found wanting in nine out of ten areas.

“Oberstown is a state of the art facility and a massive improvement on St Pat’s, an unsuitable campus which the Ombudsman for Children Office campaigned long and hard to see closed. Oberstown has great potential to have a positive and potentially life-changing effect on young people’s lives.

“We must see significant improvement across all of these areas in Oberstown. I will continue to interact with the board and the Campus Director to highlight the issue of staffing shortages at the facility.”

ENDS

Contact:
Aoife Carragher
Ombudsman for Children’s Office
01 865 6806 / 087 148 4173

Notes to Editor

• The Ombudsman for Children’s Office is an independent statutory body with an overall mandate to promote the rights and welfare of children under the age of 18 living in Ireland.
• Among the Ombudsman for Children’s core statutory functions is the independent and impartial investigation of complaints made by, or on behalf of, children in relation to public bodies, as well as organisations providing services on behalf of the State.
• See the full HIQA report into Oberstown Children Detention School

• 22 June 2016
• Type: Press Release