A new report found 71% of children in Oberstown Detention Centre had issues with drugs, alcohol or other substances.
A total of 127 children were on remand or in detention at the Dublin campus last year.
95% of those were boys, while nearly a fifth of the centre's population were members of the Traveller community.
In the first three months of last year, a third of kids had suffered the loss of at least one parent.
Four out of ten children were in either in care, or had significant involvement with Tusla, the Child and Family Agency.
The report also shows nearly six out of ten children weren't in education prior to detention, and nearly a quarter had a diagnosed learning disability.
