Ms Tracey Reddy:

From a gender specific perspective, I listened to what Mr. O'Connell said about the mental health and addiction issues people have when they enter the prison service. We can say that a significant majority of people, including women, who enter prisons experience both mental health problems and addiction. In terms of the perfect solution, a key part of that has to be the acknowledgement of dual diagnosis and offering services to people that meet both those needs. We still separate mental health and addiction. I am speaking specifically about women but in terms of the population in general, we still do not acknowledge the need to consider supporting people with mental health and addiction problems together and not prioritising one over the other. It is very important that when somebody enters prison presenting with significant mental health issues and addiction that there is somebody there who is able to work with them on both issues. We should almost set it up for them so that we have a progression route back into the community. That will ensure people do not have to deal with those issues themselves in isolation.

In terms of the transition back into the community, one of the key areas needed, particularly for women, is a step-down facility to ensure that just prior to release they can have a space where they can start to think about their future. We speak to people who spend time in prison and often the focus is very much on the system. They are just getting on with it day to day. For women, particularly very vulnerable women who may have come from domestic violence situations, who may have come in with addictions or where their children are in care and their accommodation is very insecure, they need the space and the time to think about that. The emotional, psychological and practical supports should be available to them so that they can then start to consider building a life for themselves as opposed to being released and going back to couch surfing or living in overcrowded accommodation. We do not have those kind of figures but it is about women not going back into those kind of environments where they then find themselves being drawn back into the cycle. It is almost as if they pick up where they left off. Unless we start to consider providing gender specific supports for women in prison and when they return to their previous lives, we will continuously have that cycle. We should have dual diagnosis but it is very important that we have a step-down facility.

To refer to my local area, they are in the process of building a new women's prison in Limerick and the capacity will double. To the best of my knowledge, there are no plans to have a step-down facility. We would urge that would be built in at the start rather than trying to put a facility in place later on.