Ms Eil?s N? Chaoimh:

I echo what has been said. The aim is to assist people to reach a point where they can go back into the community and then the question is what are we doing to achieve that.

After we conducted our interviews, the individual in question who had been there since the 1970s was moved on to a different placement. That is positive. It is hard to tell for how long people are in the CMH because it is not clear. However the latest report from the Mental Health (Criminal Law) Review Board noted it had done a 36th and a 37th review for someone. Assuming there is a review twice a year, that points to almost 20 years in the CMH. I do not know on what basis that person is currently detained. That is unclear. The review process in question is the 2006 review which falls under the Act of 2006. It is possible that person was there even before that. That is a big concern that emerges. This is not only the case in Ireland with the CMH. It prevails across forensic mental health detention facilities. That is the point made by the CRPD committee - that a person will be detained significantly longer than would be the case in a prison setting.