Professor Guatam Gulati:

I might take the mental health side and the prison side of the question separately. On mental health units, in 2020 and 2021, I conducted a study with my colleagues in acute psychiatric units in the rest of the country where we interviewed everyone who was present at a given time and asked about their history and whether they were homeless at the time or had ever experienced homelessness. The results were that one third of the people on any given day in any of the units either were homeless or had a significant history of homelessness. More troubling was the fact that if someone was homeless, they would have a greater length of stay and were more likely to have been involuntarily detained. Housing is a critical factor in people exercising their rights in the context of mental health units.

Turning to prisons, my study showed that about 17% of those coming into Irish prisons were homeless. We conducted a bigger study, however, where we looked at the international data on this question and asked what the scale of the data internationally was. If we put together the data from every country that has been published on the subject, the figure is between 21% and 26%, whereby about 21% of people going into prison internationally are homeless and up to 26% are homeless when leaving prison. Working in the grass roots, I can say from first-hand experience that these individuals who do not get the appropriate supports and housing are the same ones we will see again coming through the prison system. Therefore, to break that cycle of reincarceration, which often applies to people with more than one disability, housing is a key factor but it is not just housing. I return to my earlier recommendation for something like Housing First where affordable, long-term housing would be provided, based on choice and wrap-around psychosocial supports, with a social worker who would help with addictions and a named GP. It needs to come as a package to allow us to break the cycle of reincarceration.