James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The main point the Deputy is making is that prisons are effectively an ecosystem and need to be treated as such. Prisons encompass staff, prisoners and management and we must ensure that both prisoners and staff have the services and the supports they need.

On mental health, I absolutely agree with the Deputy. Indeed, I raised the same issue numerous times when I was in opposition. I was glad to see that Deputy McEntee when she was Minister for Justice used her own experience with mental health and established a high-level mental health task force. That was very much focused on people coming into the criminal justice system who had mental illnesses. Unfortunately, a lot of people with mental illnesses are ending up in the prison system and they need additional support.

The recommendations are being implemented. There is an implementation plan in place. We also had the opening of the new forensic mental health hospital in Portrane which I was glad to attend. State-of-the-art services are being provided out there, which is wonderful to see. I agree with Deputy Kenny that people who have mental illnesses need to be treated in such facilities and not in prisons.

See this speech in context