Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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605. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 1319 of 19 January 2022, if she will provide an update specifically on the establishment of the task force which she had expected in early 2022. [17794/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Addressing the mental health challenges of those interacting with the criminal justice system is a major challenge and while there are no easy fixes, this Government is determined to make sure that the right help and support is available for those that need it.

As the Deputy may be aware, considerable progress has been made on the Programme for Government commitment to consider the mental health and addiction challenges of those imprisoned, and primary care support on release.

Last April, together with with the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly and Ministers of State Frank Feighan and Mary Butler, I established a High Level Taskforce to consider the mental health and addiction challenges of persons interacting with the criminal justice system. The Taskforce is independently chaired by former Minister of State Kathleen Lynch.

The Taskforce already had nine plenary meetings and has established three subgroups on diversion, capacity issues in the Prison Service and National Forensic Mental Health Services, and community issues, including care after release.

Each of the subgroups comprises of relevant experts, chaired by high ranking officials from the criminal justice sector, with the health leads represented and contributing to all. Each of these groups have met on at least ten occasions.

The Taskforce has engaged with a large number of relevant bodies and civil society actors, including meeting with the Mental Health Commission on 2 December 2021 and, more recently, met with the Chairperson of the National Prison Visiting Committees Chairpersons Group and with the Inspector of Prisons.

The Taskforce has also received presentations from relevant stakeholders including the Mental Health Commission, the Office of the Inspector of Prisons, the Irish Penal Reform Trust and Crowe Consulting on the comprehensive Health Needs Assessment embarked on by the Prison Service.

The Taskforce submitted its interim report to myself and my colleague the Minister for Health on 22 November 2021. I also met the group before Christmas to get an update on their work.

I am advised that the work of the Taskforce is continuing apace and the aim is to finalise a report, including a high level implementation plan assigning responsibility and timelines for its recommendations, in early Quarter 2.