THREE CHILD DETENTION centres are to be made into just one as part of plans to ensure that 17-year-olds are not held in adult institutions.
Trinity House School, Oberstown Boys School and Oberstown Girls School are all located on the same campus in Lusk in north Dublin.
They operate under the same board of management but not under a single director, this will change under the Children (Amendment) Bill 2014 that was presented to cabinet yesterday.
The centres will continue with one name under the responsibility of the Irish Youth Justice System and the Department of Children & Youth Affairs.
The bill also removes provisions that allow for 17-year-olds to be held in adult facilities.
The department says that this removal along with construction work underway at the Oberstown site means that, by the end of this year, they will be able to ensure that no child under 18 will be held at an adult facility.
The department is also seeking to address a court ruling which found that children are also entitled to the same remission as adult detainee.
At present, Trinity House School operates for boys up to 17 years at the time of their detention in relation to criminal matters.
Oberstown Boys and Girls Schools operate a more open model of detention, sharing some resources, such as education, recreation and maintenance.
Children are detained in the schools when placed in remand by a court or when sentenced following a conviction.
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