Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Last week the director general of the Irish Prison Service, Mr. Michael Donnellan, told the Committee of Public Accounts that Irish jails had become modern asylums, with many inmates suffering from severe mental health issues. One aspect of the problem concerns the welfare of prisoners discharged from the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum and transferred to prison. They may have posed a danger to themselves and others but integration into the prison environment poses further challenges for them. Last week one man said on "Today with Sean O'Rourke" on RTE that he had been treated in the Central Mental Hospital for 15 years having been found not guilty of a crime by reason of insanity. Depending on their condition, other patients spend far less time receiving therapeutic care at the Central Mental Hospital and are returned to prison following a clinical assessment. I would like the Ministers for Justice and Equality and Health to provide a detailed update on provisions for the continuity of psychiatric care and the monitoring of such persons on entering the prison system from hospital. What support do these inmates specifically receive prior to discharge and what follow-on treatment and health services can they expect to receive subsequently while in State custody? I echo the call of the Irish Penal Reform Trust for the roll-out nationwide of institutional high support services for mentally ill prisoners, including those in Mountjoy Prison and Cloverhill Prison. In August 2006 a 21 year old man was killed in Mountjoy Prison by another inmate who had been transferred there from the Central Mental Hospital. The 2014 report on his death highlighted failures on the part of prison and psychiatric services. Up to 30 people who are psychotic or awaiting admission to an acute mental health facility are in prison at any one time. How are these waiting lists managed? What is the current level of communication and co-operation between health care and prison staff in the different institutions in dealing with these cases? We need to look very seriously at this issue. Prison is the last place people who are mentally ill should be incarcerated. There is an urgent need for the Government to address this growing problem among the 3,700 inmates in custody.