Gardaí are investigating the circumstances surrounding an incident at the Oberstown youth detention facility on Wednesday, in which a teenager and several staff members were hospitalised.
The incident comes a fortnight after senior management at Oberstown suspended four members of staff pending an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the escape of four teenagers from the facility on July 25th.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Children confirmed that “a young person attended hospital last night following an incident involving another young person”.
She said that “a number of staff who were involved in managing the incident also received medical attention”.
All involved in the incident have been discharged from hospital.
Impact assistant secretary general Tom Hoare, who represents staff at Oberstown, said the incident developed when one of the detainees "broke a cup and used it as a weapon, fairly seriously".
He said the teenager who was attacked “had a substantial number of staples inserted in his body, so he must have had a lot of cuts or serious cuts”.
“From the staff point of view, the first thing they would have been dealing with in the hospital is HIV,” he said.
“There was a considerable amount of blood involved and you don’t know whether [the teenagers] are HIV positive or otherwise.”
Mr Hoare said the situation was exacerbated by the fact that the facility was understaffed and operating with faulty equipment.
“The units were short-staffed,” he said. “That has two effects. Number one, it achieves a situation where staff are vulnerable internally in the units.
“It also means the availability to support the unit that gets into trouble is also interfered with. You can’t leave the area to go to somewhere else and that’s part of [the] problem in terms of manpower.
“We also understand that some of the equipment and radios didn’t register the alarms. That’s a technical fault, and there was some problem in relation to that.
“They’re all serious on their own, but when you put them altogether they represent a major issue.”
The Department of Children was informed about the incident by the facility’s campus manager Patrick Bergin.
Minister for Children Dr James Reilly has requested a full report.
Investigation continues
Separately, the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the escape of four teenagers from the facility on July 25th is continuing.
The spokeswoman for the Department of Children said the incident was “still currently being considered as part of a review being conducted by Oberstown management, with a view to addressing any identified security or other issues”.
She added that work “has been carried out on some security issues that have been identified in the intervening period of time”.
It’s understood the investigation involves reviewing CCTV footage at the facility to ascertain whether any neglect or failure to carry out duties contributed to the escape of the teenagers.
“That would lead to internal disciplinary action,” said a source. “It’s not a criminal act or anything like that.”
Three of the four teenagers who absconded have been returned to the facility, while one remains at large.
