206.—(1) F187[Subject to subsection (1A), a child] while on temporary leave shall be in the care of his or her parents or guardian, or of a responsible person, who shall undertake to the Director of the children detention school concerned to supervise the child during the period of temporary leave.

F188[(1A) Where a Director is of opinion, when formulating a temporary leave programme under section 205(1) or altering a temporary leave programme under section 205(4) for a child aged 18 years or over detained in a children detention school pursuant to section 155, that it is not appropriate for subsection (1) to apply to the child while on temporary leave, and the Director so certifies in writing, then in relation to that child or to the grant of temporary leave to that child—

(a) subsections (1) and (2) shall not apply,

(b) subsection (3) shall apply with the modification that the child shall reside in accommodation specified or approved by the Director, and subsection (4) shall have effect accordingly, and

(c) the requirement in subsection (6) for a member of the Garda Síochána to inform the person who undertook to supervise the child shall not apply.

(1B) In forming an opinion under subsection (1A), the Director shall take into account—

(a) the child’s record of behaviour while in detention,

(b) the family circumstances of the child,

(c) the child’s physical, emotional and mental health, and

(d) any other matters affecting the child’s suitability to be the subject of certification under subsection (1A) that the Director in his or her discretion considers relevant.]

(2) In deciding to grant temporary leave in any case, the Director shall be as satisfied as reasonably possible that the person who has undertaken to supervise the child will do so and, where a child has previously been granted temporary leave, the Director shall take into account how the child was supervised during that leave.

(3) Where a period of temporary leave involves a child being absent from the children detention school for one or more than one night, the child shall reside in the living accommodation of the person who has undertaken to supervise the child or in other accommodation with the prior approval of the Director, and, where that person so agrees, it shall be a condition of the leave that the child remain in that accommodation during a specified period between 7.00 p.m. on any day and 6.00 a.m. on the following day.

(4) Subject to subsection (3), where a child is so absent, a condition of the temporary leave may require the child to remain in the living accommodation of the person supervising the child or in such other accommodation, as the case may be, for different periods on different dates.

(5) Before the commencement of a period of temporary leave in respect of any child, the Director shall arrange for the member in charge of the Garda Síochána station for the area in which the child will reside during the period of the leave to be informed of the child’s address, the period of the leave and, where appropriate, the periods during which the child is required to remain at that address.

(6) A member of the Garda Síochána who detects a child in breach of a condition specified in or pursuant to subsection (3) or (4) shall so inform the Director of the school concerned, return the child to the school in which he or she was detained when granted the temporary leave and inform the person who undertook to supervise the child accordingly as soon as practicable.

(7) A child who contravenes the rules governing temporary leave or, as the case may be, a condition specified in or pursuant to subsection (3) or (4) shall be ineligible for further temporary leave for such period as may be determined in accordance with the policy in that regard of the children detention school in which he or she was detained when granted the temporary leave.

(8) A failure, without reasonable excuse, by a child to return to the school on the expiry of the period of temporary leave shall be treated as a breach of the discipline of the school and of the rules governing temporary leave.

(9) The period of a child’s absence from a school on temporary leave shall be deemed to be part of the child’s period of detention in the school but, if a child fails to return to the school when the period of temporary leave has expired, the time that elapses thereafter shall be excluded in calculating the period during which he or she is to be detained.

(10) On the grant of temporary leave to a child, the Director shall specify in a notice in writing to the child—

(a) the time of commencement and ending of the period of the leave, and

(b) where appropriate, any condition specified in or pursuant to subsection (3) or (4).