284 / 736
appeal
to
the Circuit Court by a person
aggrieved by a reinstatement,
notice of a demand for recovery of expenses by
a housing authority.
Section 71 (4) (5) (6) (7) and Section 72 of the
Housing Act 1966 would apply to a charging
order made under the new act when passed so
that a charging order will be registered in the
Registry of Deeds or Land Registry and an appeal
wilf lie against the charging order to the Circuit
Court. The bill is part of housing policy aimed at
maintaining
the
supply
of habitable housing
accommodation by controlling change of user even
by owner-occupiers and enabling
the housing
authorities to require a person effecting a change
of use to aid in the financing of new accommo
dation which would also fall on central or local
funds or on the resources of lending institutions.
When the bill becomes law members acting for
purchasers may have to make some additional
enquiries as to its effect upon titles of premises,
both residential and commercial. The Act is to
continue in operation until 31st December 1972
and will then expire unless continued in force by
an order made under Section 13.
MEMORANDUM ON REFORMATORY
AND INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS IN
IRELAND
A Sub-Committee of the Council prepared the
following Report which has been submitted to the
Committee
on
Reformatory
and
Industrial
Schools.
The existing system of dealing with destitute
children and juvenile delinquents finds its origin
in another century almost. The philosophical and
economic theory of the time of its birth would not
find acceptance today. There was no free Secon
dary education, there was even no free primary
education. Attendance at primary schools did not
become compulsory until the 1920's. Economic
theories were based on the minimum interferancc
with private enterprise, and the free play of the
interaction of supply and demand was regarded as
fundamentals. None of these theories find any
place, or at least very little place in the society in
which we live today.
Therefore institutions which were created
in
such an atmosphere cannot fit into our present
civic
arrangement.
It
is
of
no
consequence
whether one subscribes to the earlier period or the
modern period. Any system of child welfare or
reform must be adjusted to the society which we
find around us now. For these reasons it seems to
us that the whole system must be rebuilt from
the ground up.
As far as young people are concerned, one of the
great features of present day society is that every
body is obliged to accept primary education up to
fourteen years of age and is entitled to receive
Secondary education up to Leaving Certificate
standard and may if he is suited receive University
Education thereafter to such extent as he may be
intellectually equipped to avail of it. Because a
child has been deprived of his home for one
reason or another is no reason at all why he
should be at the same time deprived of these
advantages. On the contrary there is every reason
why he should get these advantages in full because
he lacks the advantages of a home environment
and all the benefits which that can bring. The
argument
is even stronger
in
the case of the
juvenile delinquent who, because of some inherent
defect in his character or because of a bad home
environment has fallen on evil ways has all the
more demands to make upon Society to provide
him with an education which will rectify these
defects if it is possible to do so. It follows from
these arguments that the child who is deprived of
his home environment and its advantages whether
by reason of delinquency or by reason of the break
up of a home for one reason or another, must
receive not only as good an education and as
advantageous an education as his counterpart, who
has not suffered from these disadvantages, but
even better.
The system must be designed, not only to pro
vide these advantages which he misses, but also
to provide counter-weights against the resultant ill
effect on his character and personality. The
designing and planning of a suitable system to deal
with these matters call for the assistance of a team
of experts
in education, child psychology and
sociology. While we cannot make claim to any
of these qualifications we may make recommenda
tions which appeal to us as commen-sense laymen
and which we accept may be subject to revision in
the light of such advice as may be received from
such a team when established. The recommenda
tions which occur to us are as follows:
1. The
appropriate Government
Department
whether Education or Justice should immediately
set up a permanent team of experts who would
not alone advise the Government on the steps to
be taken and the provisions to be made to meet
this problem at
the
initiation but would also
continue in permanent session to advise contin-
8