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Oberstown child detention campus workers picket Department amid 'increased risks to personal safety'

Part of an increased demand to accommodate boys at Oberstown in recent years is understood to relate to teenagers participating in joy-riding activities

[Frsa staff from Oberstown Child Detention campus on the picket line outside the Department of Children and Equality on Lower Baggot Street in Dublin in a continuing dispute over resourcing and safe staffing at the campus. Picture date: Tuesday August 18, 2026]

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Frsa staff from Oberstown Child Detention campus on the picket line outside the Department of Children and Equality on Lower Baggot Street in Dublin in a continuing dispute over resourcing and safe staffing at the campus. Picture date: Tuesday August 18, 2026

Workers from Oberstown Children Detention Campus have begun a protest outside the Department of Children as part of an ongoing industrial relations dispute.

The picket, involving members of the Frsa union, coincides with a 10-hour work stoppage at the campus on Tuesday, which is the third such industrial action this month.

It comes after a ballot of Frsa members which backed industrial action up to and including a full withdrawal of labour, with the union saying workers have previously reported assaults on staff and injuries requiring hospital treatment in circumstances where staffing levels were stretched.

The union members have been engaged in a work-to-rule at Oberstown since the end of June.

Frsa expressed frustration and said efforts to engage with management on key issues broke down last week.

[Frsa staff from Oberstown Child Detention campus on the picket line outside the Department of Children and Equality on Lower Baggot Street in Dublin ]

View 3 Images

Frsa staff from Oberstown Child Detention campus on the picket line outside the Department of Children and Equality on Lower Baggot Street in Dublin

It said: Safe staffing in Oberstown remains a concern for Frsa members employed there.

The unions assistant general secretary Deirdre OConnell said: Oberstown management has refused to include key elements of Frsas claim in its business case to the Department of Children.

These include measures to address the recruitment difficulties facing the service, which management has said should be dealt with separately through local bargaining, while also acknowledging that there are not enough resources allocated to local bargaining to resolve them.

The consequence of this approach is that it stalls efforts to resolve the issues in dispute and prolongs a situation where staff and residents face increased risks to personal safety.

Oberstown said it regrets the work stoppage, adding: We are disappointed that this escalation is taking place while engagement through the established industrial relations process remains ongoing.

It said it and the Department of Children had engaged extensively with staff representatives, including through the Workplace Relations Commission.

The facility said it remains fully committed to working constructively towards a resolution and had taken a proactive approach to strengthening frontline staffing.

Frsas media relations director, Niall Shanahan, told the Press Association that it was the unions view that safety has been compromised by issues around recruitment, retention and capacity at the facility.

Oberstown challenged the unions depiction of staffing issues, pointing to the recruitment of 23 frontline staff over the last year and an overall net increase of nine frontline workers over the same period.

It said recorded campus incidents have reduced by 29 per cent year-to-date compared with 2025, with low-level physical interventions reducing by 40 per cent at the same time.

[Frsa staff from Oberstown Child Detention campus on the picket line ]

View 3 Images

Frsa staff from Oberstown Child Detention campus on the picket line

Oberstown was allocated more than 2.1 million in additional funding to address recruitment issues, and it is understood there is a view within the department that staffing is sufficient.

The facility has seen an increased demand to accommodate boys in recent years.

At the start of 2026, it had a capacity for 40 boys and six girls.

In February, Childrens Minister Norma Foley announced she would be changing that breakdown to 44 boys and two girls during the remainder of the year starting with a move to a 42-four split in March.

Part of the increased demand is understood to relate to teenage boys participating in joy-riding activities.

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