Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have been at another meeting and apologise if my questions already have been asked. This committee, which is working with adults with disabilities, has heard how prison officers may not be trained in how to deal with mental health issues in a way they need to be and how there is a need for standard training on disability awareness and rights across the criminal justice system by external professionals in both the legal and mental health areas. Can our guests discuss the level of training in place for staff? The Mental Health Commission highlighted to the committee the significant absence of community mental health services and rehabilitation services.

Is there a need to review all prisons to identify how many people are inappropriately placed in them? Do the witnesses know how many people are in prisons who were previously homeless? That is a huge issue for us. We work with people weekly.

It has also been reported that the number of deaths in prisons in 2022 was almost double that in 2021. That stood out to me most when I was going through my information. I would like to hear the thoughts of the witnesses on that. My final question is on the mainstreaming of early intervention across the criminal justice system to ensure that people are not being inappropriately placed in prisons. They are my questions, and once again I apologise and congratulate the witnesses for the work they are doing. It is important work, and I thank them for it.