Staff members at a youth detention centre in Dublin have claimed there has been an increased number of serious assaults on them.
The Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children has asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to respond to staff concerns that also include a lack of training and insufficient garda back-up.
Earlier this year St Patrick's Institution for young offenders closed its doors, which meant that 16- and 17-year-olds would from then on be detained at Oberstown in north Dublin.
The committee recently met privately with staff working at the centre and outlined their concerns in a letter sent to Minister for Children James Reilly in recent days.
The letter, seen by RTÉ News, says 31 staff received injuries in critical incidents since March.
It says the centre is now detaining boys that are physically bigger, older and exhibit more challenging behaviour.
Committee members say they believe that specific training may be required to deal with the older boys and were particularly concerned there were no sanctions to deal with violent actions.
The letter also states: "It's understood gardaí are no longer prepared to provide support and assistance to Oberstown Campus."
A spokesperson for the minister said this afternoon that Mr Reilly had received the letter.
He said that a detailed review of the information provided in the letter would now get under way and a response would also be sought from the management at Oberstown.
