Ivana Bacik (Independent)

It was never appropriate to criminalise mental illness by placing psychiatric patients in an institution on a campus that was really a prison campus which included the enormous prison which was proposed for Thornton Hall.

I am glad it has been announced that Thornton Hall will at least be delayed. There is a strong argument to review in much greater depth the need for building more prison places as we have never seen an evidence-based rationale for building them. We know there are large numbers of people in prison who should not be there, including large numbers who are mentally ill and who should be receiving treatment. We know conditions within our prisons are appalling with very few rehabilitation prospects. We need a debate on prison policy in light of these announcements.

The Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill is before the House today, one of the many pieces of legislation coming to the House in this race to finish in July. There must be a better way of ordering legislation. Among these Bills, Part 6 of the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill will reconstitute the Crisis Pregnancy Agency. I want to record my appreciation and that of many people, especially women in crisis pregnancy, for the great work the agency has done since its inception in 2001.