Yesterday the Minister and his party colleagues launched their campaign for a "Yes" vote in the upcoming children's referendum. Like everyone else, I welcome this referendum and look forward to a day when the children of the State will be given the protection they deserve and when stories of abuse and neglect by families and the State will become a thing of the past. However, this week it seems that day is much further away than it was before.

Like other Members, I read with disgust and dismay the findings in Judge Reilly's report on St. Patrick's Institution of children being stripped with knives, bullied by staff members and being forcibly moved to isolation cells using head and arm lock control. This is barbaric behaviour and it would remind us of the treatment of prisoners in Abu Ghraib in Iraq, about which we heard so much about over the years, but it is happening on our own doorstep.

There are even questions for the Minister, Deputy Quinn. Basic record-keeping in regard to school attendance for young people in St. Patrick's is non-existent. This means those young people's lives will be restricted. They will not have had the chance improve themselves during their time in that institution and they will leave it at a distinct disadvantage. All this has being going on right under our noses.

I am aware that the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, instructed the director general of the Prison Service to address these issues within the timeframe set by the inspector but I am very concerned as to whether it is quick enough and at how these abuses are only coming to the fore now. If the Minister, Deputy Quinn, and his Labour Party colleagues truly believe children should be seen and heard, they will act on this immediately. That makes me wonder how it is that the Minister, Deputy Shatter, received this report three and a half months ago but it has only come to light this week. Why did the Ombudsman for Children's concerns in regard to St. Patrick's Institution fall on deaf ear for two years?

The Minister's party leader has stated that this must be addressed but what everyone wants to know and what I would like to hear is when and how. The 2014 timeline for ending the detention in that prison of those aged under 18 must be brought forward. Will the Government do this and will it act for children who want to be seen and heard but who are prevented from doing so in the cruelest possible way?

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter which, I think, is a concern to everyone in this House and is a legacy none us can be proud of. The Minister, Deputy Shatter, informed the Cabinet on Tuesday of this matter and the report. We agreed instantly to his recommendation that it should be published immediately, which he did the following day. His statement is very extensive and it is available to Members of this House if they want to get the full chapter and verse in regard to an outrageous scandal and reflection on all elected persons in this House and elsewhere.

Some things have been done. Sixteen year olds are no longer being detained in St. Patrick's. I am pretty sure, although it is subject to confirmation, that some categories of 17 year olds will be transferred to the Oberstown campus before mid-2014 when all young people under the age of 18 will be detained on that site. We are moving to get everyone under the age of 18 out of the Mountjoy complex where St. Patrick's is located.

The other issue raised, the way in which the Ombudsman for Children was treated, reflects badly on aspects of the Department of Justice and Equality and the Prison Service. I can assure the Deputy that the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald, and the Minister, Deputy Shatter, are working closely to address immediately the issues he highlighted.

I thank the Minister. It is vital the timeframe for removing those aged under 18 years from St. Patrick's should be brought forward very quickly. Judge Reilly said he would revisit the prison in November to check on implementation of the findings in his report. I hope that when he does, he will be able to report that the implementation is taking place and is happening quickly. Will the Government correct the record at the United Nations Human Rights Commission where the former Secretary General of the Department of Justice and Equality said these complaints were basically the fanciful whims of children and could not be listened to? It is vital for the reputation of our country and the respect of human rights that the record is corrected.

I can assure the Deputy that all necessary steps required to deal with this issue will be taken. This Fine Gael-Labour Party Government is the first one to establish a dedicated Department of Children and Youth Affairs under the management and control of the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald. The Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, has probably introduced more reforms in the area of justice in less than two years than any of his predecessors. He has been extremely fearless in confronting interests which perhaps hid behind certain allegations or certain assertions. He will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure Ireland is fully compliant with its international obligations in this regard.