Staff at Oberstown Youth Detention Centre are set to stage a 12-hour strike today amid an ongoing dispute over staffing levels and safety.
Members of Fórsa will begin the work stoppage at 9am at the State’s only detention facility for children in north County Dublin.
The union is also planning a 48-hour withdrawal of labour next week.
Three one-day stoppages have already taken place, but emergency social care staff remained on site under a so-called derogation.
However, Tuesday’s strike will take place without that emergency cover. The only union personnel expected to remain at the centre will be catering staff for the 40 young people currently detained there.
Oberstown management has warned that withdrawing all frontline care staff creates serious safety and welfare concerns.
A spokesperson said: “This creates a direct and unacceptable risk to the safety, security and wellbeing of staff, young people and all those on campus.”
Management said 23 staff had been recruited over the past year, including nine specialist workers, while low-level physical interventions had fallen by 40% over the past 12 months.
However, Fórsa says the strike is necessary to highlight concerns over safe staffing at the centre.
Fórsa assistant general secretary Deirdre O’Connell said: “These are social care workers working in an environment with a wide variety of needs, with an absolute focus on the safety of the young people in their care.”
The union has also raised concerns over plans to increase the number of beds for boys at Oberstown from 42 to 44.
Ms O’Connell said: “The DCDE's plans to increase the number of beds at Oberstown fail to acknowledge the capacity challenges we are already dealing with.”
She added that staff and residents continue to face increased risks to their personal safety.
Ms O’Connell said Fórsa remains available for “meaningful, solution-focused engagement” with management in an effort to resolve the dispute.
