<p>
	The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) has said that HIQA needs to be more prompt in the publishing of reports into child detention centres.</p>
<p>
	Deirdre Malone, the executive director of the IPRT, said that the last report they saw from the watchdog was 13 months ago, in November 2013. She added that the inspection which that particular report was based upon had been carried out months earlier, in July 2013.</p>
<p>
	She was speaking yesterday after the &#39;Children&#39;s Rights Behind Bars: Where are we now?&#39; conference in Dublin.</p>
<p>
	&quot;An important point about the HIQA report is that those reports on child detention schools are supposed to be annual.</p>
<p>
	&quot;And the last HIQA report we saw, the inspection took place in June 2013, and the report was published in November 2013.</p>
<p>
	&quot;We have seen no published report since then,&quot; Ms Malone said.</p>
<p>
	She said that while they are satisfied that the watchdog is in place and is active, the reports they produce need to be issued more promptly.</p>
<p>
	&quot;There is a watchdog and it is HIQA, but unless HIQA publishes their report and tells us what they found, then we don&#39;t know what is happening,&quot; she added.</p>
<p>
	Ms Malone also said that the standards of inspection at the child detention centres were set over a decade ago, and they believe that they need to be revisited and revised.</p>
<p>
	&quot;What we are saying is that those standards were formulated in 2004, so we would say that it is time for them to be reviewed to ensure that they reflect current best practice.&quot;</p>
<p>
	The current Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald announced over two years ago that the practice of the imprisonment of children would end.</p>
<p>
	There are currently three children&#39;s detention centres in Ireland - Oberstown Girls School, Oberstown Boys School and Trinity House School, all located on the same campus in Lusk, north Dublin.</p>
<p>
	However, the latest figures released on Tuesday reveal that there are currently 21 boys aged 17-years-old being held in prison. Eight of these boys are on remand in St Patrick&#39;s Institution and 13 are being held under sentence in Wheatfield Place of detention.</p>
<p>
	The IPRT have described these settings as &quot;an environment and regime wholly inappropriate for their needs&quot;.</p>
<p>
	A report from the European &#39;Children&#39;s Rights Behind Bars&#39; organisation was also discussed at yesterday&#39;s forum, which also raised concerns about the suitability of detention centres for children.</p>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/health/health-watchdog-under-pressure-over-detention-units-for-children-30825756.html">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/health/health-watchdog-under-pressure-over-detention-units-for-children-30825756.html</a></p>
