Residential care workers and night supervising staff at the Oberstown detention centre in north county Dublin will conduct four-hour work stoppages every Tuesday in June, in a dispute over safety. IMPACT says staff and residents at the centre are exposed to daily risk of violent assault.

The Oberstown campus currently caters for 48 young people, including a mix of vulnerable offenders and violent criminals with multiple convictions for serious offences. The industrial action comes against the background of a high and growing number of attacks on staff since the expansion of the centre to facilitate the transfer of offenders from the prison service.

IMPACT official Tom Hoare said recent figures revealed over 100 violent incidents in Oberstown last year, almost half of which were classed as ‘critical’. Critical assaults and injuries necessitated over 3,000 employee sick days, involving 65 staff members.

“A series of policy decisions has 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 and procedures to deal with a mix of vulnerable young people and violent offenders. 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,” he said.

The union has also highlighted problems with staff recruitment and retention. Coupled with absences due to assaults, these have left the facility understaffed and incapable of dealing safely with the numbers of offenders in the unit.

A recent expansion and refurbishment of the complex was badly planned and implemented, resulting in a totally unsafe living and working environment, while staff are denied appropriate personal protection and safety equipment.