Ms Fíona Ní Chinnéide:

Deputy Clare Daly raised the issue of drug offences and the estimated 70% of people in prison having addiction issues. This comes as no surprise. It is a well-known international phenomenon. Drugs need to be treated first as a public health issue and second as a criminal justice issue. The problem starts with the lack of residential treatments in the community. In prison, there are issues around waiting lists for access to addictions treatment. Often prisoners present with dual diagnosis, both addiction and mental health issues which need to be treated at the same time. Our recommendation is that there needs to be investment in community mental health and addictions treatment and services. There should be a diversion of people at the first point within the criminal justice system, that is, with the Garda. On committal to prison, there needs to be an assessment and diversion to more appropriate therapeutic treatments and services. Prison conditions and regimes need to be improved, along with improved training for staff. There needs to be the establishment of vulnerable care units in all prisons, modelled on the successful high support unit in Mountjoy Prison and a shift from pharmacological treatment towards therapeutic interventions. There should not be waiting lists. All prisoners who want to address their addictions should be able to access treatment, not only methadone but detox beds, drug treatment landings and counselling. At root, it is a public health issue first. I know the previous justice committee examined the Portuguese model in this regard. That research would be a good first point.

The Irish Penal Reform Trust does not know why there is a difficulty in filling the health placements in prisons. There are issues with security, staff ratios on a given day and prioritisation of details. For example, the Midlands Prison is a super prison with 820 prisoners but it has fewer resources than Wheatfield Prison, which has fewer than 500 prisoners. There are concerns about prisoners’ ability to access psychological and psychiatric health care interventions. Often when a doctor is called, he or she cannot get to the landing because of security and the prison officers are not available. This is an issue experienced by all prisons and much of it comes down to court escorts etc. The Inspector of Prisons and Places of Detention recommended a review of this, which I understand is ongoing.

One is filling the positions, the other is having the staff available to bring the doctors down.

On Deputy Daly's point about the media, we know this. The former press ombudsman, Professor John Horgan, was very clear on this. Murder makes up 0.05% of crime but makes up 15% to 20% of media reports. The vast majority of crimes committed are not serious or are less serious or minor offences. They get resolved and never come to light again. It is a huge problem. We are very concerned, particularly around the conversations about parole reform. We wonder if the media is not, to some extent, exploitative, in going to victims' families at the seven-year point. We all know that the likelihood of any prisoner who is sentenced to life getting out at 15 or 20 years is very slim, so it is very questionable that they approach families to seek their response on that. We find that highly problematic. It underlines the importance of parole reform and the progress of the Parole Bill 2016. We have to release decision making from political control because people who are reliant on the public to vote them into office are more likely to be concerned about public perceptions of their actions. It is unfair that media reporting should influence a decision around a prisoner's suitability for release, which should be based purely on risk-assessment.