Prison officers don riot gear to tackle psychotic inmates

Currently, 17 men and one woman in prison are on the waiting list for the Central Mental Hospital, four of whom have to be barrier handled by prison staff.

Prison officers must wear full riot gear to deal with psychotic prisoners who wait years for a bed in the Central Mental Hospital (CMH).

It is “totally unacceptable” for extremely mentally unwell people to be in prison when what they need is hospital care, said Irish Prison Service (IPS) director general Caron McCaffrey.

Prison officers are being assaulted by psychotic inmates and the intense resources they require mean personnel are diverted away from other prisoners.

Five prison staff were recently injured in one assault by a person with serious mental health issues and three of those staff remain out of work, Ms Caffrey said.

Currently, 17 men and one woman in prison are on the waiting list for the CMH. Four of those men have to be barrier handled.

Psychotic prisoners require barrier handling, where a prisoner is managed by five staff in full riot gear with shields due to the potential level of threat.

“The reality is those people are gravely unwell," said Ms McCaffrey.

They're psychotic, they shouldn't be in a custodial setting, we can’t provide them with the treatment they need to get better.

“In my view, it's totally unacceptable to have four people who are psychotic being managed on barrier handling within a prison setting where what they really need is hospital care.

“They've been deemed by the clinicians in the CMH as warranting admission. One of those men has been waiting two years for admission to the CMH and that has a hugely detrimental effect within the prisoner environment.

“It contributes to assaults, but it also diverts staff away from providing services to other prisoners.” 

Prisons have seen a 63% increase in staff injuries as they try to control escalating violence.

Increase in assaults

Assaults on prison officers jumped by 46% between 2021 and 2022, according to IPS figures. Prisoner-on-prisoner assaults increased by 52% over the same period.

Ms McCaffrey said that 50% of the more than 4,000 prison population are either engaging with psychologists or waiting to see a psychologist.

Personality disorders are also a “significant issue” for the prison service. An estimated 60% of people in custody have a personality disorder, she said. 

The IPS is considering establishing a special unit to treat people with personality disorders presenting with very challenging behaviours.

Irish Prison Service director general Caron McCaffrey.

Initiatives are being introduced to divert mentally ill people from the IPS, Ms McCaffrey said, coupled with an increase in psychological services for those who are committed to IPS care.

A pilot project in Limerick Prison embeds mental health staff in a Garda station so that they have the ability to properly assess and possibly divert people to mental health facilities.

“That's certainly something that we'd love to see rolled out across the country.”