AN extra 24 places are to be provided by the Department of Education for children in trouble with the law as part of the arrangements for implementing the Children Bill.
The Bill was formally published yesterday. Most of the details had previously been published in September.
It replaces the Children Act, 1908 and raises the age of criminal responsibility from seven to 10 years. The upper age will be reviewed every three years with a view to increasing it to 12 years.
It provides for a "diversion programme" in which a Garda Superintendent can call a family conference to discuss a child's welfare. This is an extension of the juvenile liaison scheme which the programme will replace.
One of the Bill's more controversial provisions, when details were published in September, was that the courts could impose a curfew on young offenders.
The Minister of State for Justice, Health and Education, Mr Austin Currie, who has brought the Bill forward, yesterday declared that there was no mention of a curfew in the published Bill.
Instead a court can issue a "restriction on movement" order under which the child could be restricted to his or her home between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. The order could also oblige a child to stay away from a particular place during certain hours.
Courts will be able to order parents to pay compensation for offences committed by children. Parents can be obliged to enter into a recognisance of up to £250 to keep their children under control.
The reformatory and industrial schools under the Department of Education will become children detention schools run by a single board of management. Schools will not be allowed to refuse to accept children sent to them by the courts.
Causing a child to beg will continue to be an offence, but parents will be obliged to prove that they did not send their children out to beg.
Mr Currie told a press conference that two units of eight places, each are to be provided for children in need of therapy, and another two units of eight places' each for morally depraved children. These, however, will be allocated from existing places within the system.
Three additional units of eight places each will be provided for ordinary offenders.
The Bill, when implemented, will mean an extra £7 million a year in spending by the Department of Health and up to £5 million by the Department of Education, Mr Currie said.
The Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, told the press conference that there will be no significant costs for the Department of Justice. Separate sections for children aged 16 to 18 will be designated in St Patrick's Institution and in Wheatfield Prison, she said.
Mr Currie described the Bill as "a landmark in the development of juvenile justice." It sought to strike a fair balance between the needs and interests of the child offender and the protection of the community.
"A common thread running through the Bill is that of parental involvement and responsibility," he said. "Parents will be encouraged to be involved with their children at every stage in the proceedings when their children commit offences'."