Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)

The findings of a report on mental health in Irish prisons were published recently. They are a shocking indictment of our system and how we care for people with mental illness. If a homeless person suffering from a mental illness comes to the attention of gardaí, he or she is, despite being in distress and in need of treatment, taken to a prison instead of to a mental institution for proper attention and treatment. That is unfair and unsuitable. Something must be done immediately to stop that practice. Indeed, in some cases, when there is no room either in a mental institution or in the jail, such people are taken to accident and emergency departments and held there under security until a place is finally found for them. I ask the Leader to arrange an urgent debate on this issue. If homeless persons are in distress and in need of treatment, why are they put in jail?