Ministers 'committed' to diverting people with mental health issues away from prison

Kathleen Lynch, the head of the High Level Task Force (HLTF) on mental health, addiction and the criminal justice system said the task force shared the “same worries” about implementation of the report that have been aired by various people. File picture: Denis Minihane

The ministers of health and justice are “committed” to implementing recommendations of a government task force on diverting people with mental health or addiction issues from prisons and improving their level of care.

The departments said that a steering committee across the two agencies has been set up to drive implementation of the 67 recommendations of the High Level Task Force (HLTF) on mental health, addiction and the criminal justice system.