Ms Molly Joyce:

I am not an expert on decision support or assisted decision-making so I will pass over to my colleague. From our position, we are clear about reminding people that assisted decision-making will apply to people within prisons too and not to forget that cohort of individuals. I have one point before I pass over to Professor Flynn and my colleagues. People are transferred out in cases involving acute need. I highlight the lack of resources in the Prison Service to help people to get the mental health support that they need.

If we had better supports within the prison system we could hope to not have as many people being deemed as requiring to be moved out of that system. In that regard, a 2015 IPRT report recommended there be one psychologist to 150 prisoners and we have never gotten anywhere close to that. This time last year the figure was around one to 257 beds.