Mr. Michael Donnellan:

Castlerea takes many prisoners from the west of Ireland and the north west. It has a population of 300, 30% of whom are Irish Travellers. It has a very mixed population with high needs. I said in my opening statement that the HSE had approved a full-time psychiatrist to work there. Serious attempts have been made over the last number of years to fill the post but without success. Over the last number of years, we have been providing services to Castlerea on a wing and a prayer with some part-time psychiatric input. Professor Kennedy himself used to travel there from Dublin to provide half a day or a day a week to assess people. We are continuously trying to find somebody who will attend the prison on a regular basis to continue the management and treatment of prisoners. Very acute people are admitted to Castlerea from courts in the west and north west. They are met by a nurse and a GP but there is nobody to screen or assess them and there is no one to continue their ongoing treatment if they have been in treatment in the community. If we have someone who is very ill, we must transfer him in a prison van for either two hours to the midlands or three hours to Dublin which is away from his zone, family and connections. It is an absolutely acute problem. The prison governor, Mr. Martin Reilly, brings this to my door every week and raises the risks to prisoners and the pressure on staff. Prison officers are left to manage this untreated group of mentally unwell people in Castlerea. It is difficult to get services to places like Castlerea. We have recently provided psychology services, but my biggest risk today is Castlerea.