Ms Molly Joyce:

I will take some of those questions on behalf of the Irish Penal Reform Trust, IPRT. I know we might have slightly different approaches to the high-level task force in particular. I want to address the point about timing because it is a keen observation. Much is happening in this space. In some ways, the timing of how everything has worked out is a bit unfortunate. IPRT made submissions to both the Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and this committee about the reform of both Acts. Both our submissions highlighted that we were doing this report but that it was not ready yet. It would have been great if we had done it a year earlier and could have fed that in, but we are where we are. Much more attention is being given to the issue, which is probably why we have much happening simultaneously. It would have been great to have this report this time last year, because we could then have fed in some of its findings, but we did not have it. Things that happened at the Central Mental Hospital, CMH, and concerns identified by this report are not our area of expertise or knowledge that we would have had to hand.

IPRT welcomes the high-level task force and the new opening of the CMH. We called for the task force. It is one of our five recommendations for the programme for Government. We were pleased to see that progress at the cross-agency, interdepartmental level and to see that commitment from the Minister. It was brilliant. It was published in a relatively short space of time. We acknowledge that it is a huge report. As the Senator noted, the report engaged with many actors across all of the systems, which is key to trying to resolve some of the issues. To date, people have been operating in silos, so seeing that inter-agency interaction is brilliant.

We welcome many of the recommendations of the high-level task force.

There are many recommendations so trying to get our heads around every one has been challenging. We also need to see how they will play out and interact with each other. We have often made the point about diversion. IPRT receives many communications and we are told about people ending up in prison and, in the worst case scenario, dying by suicide in the prison environment when they should not have been there in the first place. That is our primary concern. Having had this report, I am conscious that one is potentially diverting someone into a system that is coercive. As I said earlier, this involves the diversion of many people. The high-level task force looked at mental illness and addiction. Many people end up in prison because of drugs and should not be there. We welcome much of that.

On capacity issues, the task force did good work. That was partly led by the Irish Prison Service and written by that subgroup. There was good work on how to address this issue. The new Central Mental Hospital has been acknowledged by everyone. It is welcome and it is a much better facility than the old one in Dundrum, but it will not address the capacity issue in the long term. It has been accepted that capacity is around 102 or 103 and will increase to 170, which includes the intensive care rehabilitation unit and a forensic child and adolescent mental health service too. It will not address the capacity issue. IPRT has collected much data about waiting lists in the Prison Service over the past few years and people getting transferred to the CMH. It may address it to a certain extent but it will not be fully addressed.