Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to speak about people with psychosocial disabilities and mental health difficulties in prisons. It is reported that 17 men and women are currently waiting in prison to be admitted to the Central Mental Hospital. Four of them are so gravely unwell and suffering from psychosis that they must be barrier-handled, whereby only prison officers in full riot gear and shields can deal with them. That is absolutely inhumane in a modern society. One man has been waiting for two years to be admitted to the Central Mental Hospital.

I have tabled another related question that we will probably not reach today. It relates to the crisis de-escalation team the Department was hoping to get up and running in Limerick. It has been delayed for the past while. It is a pilot scheme that I really welcomed when it was announced by the former Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee. The objective is to prevent people entering the judicial system in the first place. If we could get an update on that pilot programme, that would be fantastic.

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