Oberstown residents denied breakfast at usual time due to strike

Young offenders at Oberstown youth detention centre in north Dublin were locked in their rooms and not served breakfast at the normal time due to strike action, campus management have said.

The unions, Impact and Siptu, said the four hour work stoppage was carried out on Tuesday as staff and residents at the centre are exposed to a daily risk of violent assault.

Pat Bergin, Oberstown campus manager, said that during the industrial action the residents were locked in their room and staff were directed by the unions not to open the bedroom doors.

He said the consequence was staff were prevented from serving breakfast at the normal time and worried how the teenagers would react when the doors were unlocked after the work stoppage.

Mr Bergin said the young people normally went to breakfast from 9am to 9.30am, and then onto school or activities.

Mr Bergin said after some discussions with unions the teenagers were given breakfast about 10.30am.

“After the work stoppage ended the transition onto school and activities went smoothly,” he said.

Care workers and other employees took part in industrial action from 8am to 12pm over what they say are poor safety measures and an increasing number of assaults on the campus.

Trade unions Impact and Siptu said full emergency cover was in place, and that there would be no disruption of State exams at the facility.

The campus caters for 48 teenagers under 18, including what the unions described as a mix of “vulnerable young offenders and violent criminals with multiple convictions for serious offences”.

It is the only youth detention centre in the State that facilitates the transfer of offenders from the prison service.

The unions said more than 100 violent incidents occurred at Oberstown last year, almost half of which were classed as “critical”.

Critical assaults and injuries necessitated a total of 3,005 employee sick days, involving 65 staff members.

Mr Bergin disputed that the number of the assaults at the centre had increased and said there had been a decrease this year.

He said last November he issued a directive to end the use of a particular type of physical intervention known as “pain compliance technique” in order to reduce the number of injuries.

“Today, there has been a significant reduction in injuries,” he said.

Mr Bergin said of the 48 male teenagers, 15 were 17-years-old and it was important to remember the campus was not a prison.

Unions have been contacted for comment in regards to the work stoppage and breakfast issue on Tuesday.

Earlier, Impact official Tom Hoare said a series of policy decisions had left Oberstown care workers "doing the work of prison staff with the facilities and equipment of a residential care home".

“The campus is badly designed, with inadequate safety equipment to deal with a mix of vulnerable young people and violent offenders,” he said.

“ The result is a daily risk of serious assault, which leaves many of the staff literally in fear of their lives as they leave for work each day.”

Both unions and Oberstown management have agreed to talks at the Workplace Relations Commission on Wednesday.

Minister for Children Katherine Zappone said she regretted the decision of the staff to strike but welcomed the agreements to take part in negotiations.

“However, the fact that this engagement is happening means that, having regard to normal industrial relations practice and the Lansdowne Road Agreement, there is no basis for this industrial action to take place,” she said.

Ms Zappone said she was concerned the interruption would affect the normal routines of the children, in particular school attendance on campus.

Further four-hour stoppages are planned for each Tuesday in June.