Mr. John Farrelly:

On engagement, we have had significant interaction with the prisons. We just published a report entitled Access to Mental Health Services for People in Criminal Justice System. I would point to two principles from our end. People who may have offended because of their mental illness should not enter the criminal justice system; they should be diverted earlier, either by the Garda or the courts, into forensic mental health services. Those in prison should have the same access as those in the community. The simple point is they do not have that.

I can imagine in the case of Deputy’s client at that time that with respect to the concept of that person getting a capacity assessment in prison, it would have been difficult. I have walked the remand prison in Cloverhill with the Inspector of Prisons. I have worked in mental health systems for 35 years, including in the old institutions in Ireland and England, and those are not places persons with mental illness should be put, full stop.