FG calls for mental health court system for ill prisoners

MENTALLY ill offenders should be offered the option of a treatment programme instead of prison, Fine Gael TD Dan Neville said yesterday.

Mr Neville, who is president of the Irish Association of Suicidology, said the recent tragic death of an inmate in Mountjoy Prison underlined the need to have better strategies to deal with prisoners who suffer from mental illness.

“Mentally ill offenders should be afforded the option of a treatment programme instead of prison and be obliged to commit to the programme for an extended period or face imprisonment,” he said.