Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I add my voice on the matter of the brutal and tragic killing or murder of a young child and a young woman over the past few days. I am not sure about others, but I and the women of Ireland feel a deep injury at the killing off of the voices of this girl and this woman who would change our nation. My sympathies and heartfelt condolences go to the families.According to recent research by the Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, the rates of psychosis and mental illness among inmates in prisons is much higher than for the rest of the population, yet we have the lowest per capitasecure psychiatric bed availability. The prevalence of mental and psychological illnesses is at 8% in prisons. Alcohol and substance misuse disorders are at 51% and the homelessness rate of prisoners on committal is at 18%. They are all significantly higher than the general population and all are both a cause and consequence of imprisonment. We have the opening in 2020 of the new forensic unit in Portrane which will accommodate some of the extensive waiting lists.

There are people in approved centres and in prisons. The majority in prisons are very unwell and awaiting transfer to this high security unit, the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum. Some wait for 15 years and some are released because they have served their sentence with no treatment whatsoever and then come back into the prisons because of reoffending due to mental instability. We know that it increases demand, that there is a staff shortage and that retention and recruitment is difficult. It is endemic throughout health services.

Tomorrow, at the Joint Committee on Future of Mental Health Care, we will discuss this and plans for the future. I hope that the Minister will at some stage come and inform the rest of the Members of this House of policy and plans to realise A Vision for Change, although it is well past its sell-by date, and to give the healthcare needed by patients in the prison system which criminalises them.