Minister admits inmates on waiting lists leave prison before attending psychology services

The justice minister Jim O’Callaghan said this was due to long waiting lists and overcrowding

Mr O’Callaghan confirmed that 2,425 of the 5,817 people in prison as of February 27 were waiting to get psychological support. That 5,817 total means prison capacity stands at 123%. File picture

Prisoners awaiting addiction and psychology services are leaving prison without any assessment or treatment due to long waiting lists and overcrowding, justice minister Jim O’Callaghan has admitted.

New figures show that over 40% of prisoners across the state were on waiting lists for psychology services at the end of February.

In response to queries from Social Democrats’ Gary Gannon, Mr O’Callaghan confirmed that 2,425 of the 5,817 people in prison as of February 27 were waiting to get psychological support. That 5,817 total means prison capacity stands at 123%.

The busiest waiting list was in Midlands Prison, where 582 prisoners were seeking to access the service. This was followed by Mountjoy Prison in Dublin at 531. In the “Training Unit”, which is part of Mountjoy, there were 43 people seeking to access services.

There were also lengthy waiting lists in the capital’s other prisons, with 285 awaiting services in Wheatfield, 90 in Cloverhill, and 76 in Arbour Hill.

In Cork Prison, some 194 prisoners were on the Irish Prison Service psychology service waitlist, with another 191 waiting in Limerick Prison.

Mr O’Callaghan also confirmed to Mr Gannon that 920 prisoners were also on waiting lists to access addiction services offered by Merchants Quay Ireland (MQI).

The highest number was in Mountjoy, with 256 people waiting for assistance, followed by Wheatfield with 160 people, Limerick with 117 people and Cork with 103.

Mr O’Callaghan told Mr Gannon that overcrowding and increasing need are impacting the ability to treat prisoners who need rehabilitation.

He said that while MQI did not offer a prison-based addiction service to Arbour Hill Prison or the Mountjoy Training Unit as both prisons “historically accommodated people with fewer addiction challenges”, the need for services has increased and “resourcing is now under review".

“The Psychology Service provides an integrated assessment and treatment service, focusing on both mental health and criminogenic need across the prison estate,” Mr O’Callaghan said.

“An increased prison population means more people are referred to each service with clinical need. Overcrowding impacts operational management of prisons, including reducing clinician access.

“Unfortunately, a proportion of those referred to addiction counsellors and psychologists will be released without assessment or treatment.”

Prisoners are being 'failed'

Mr Gannon told the Irish Examiner that over half the prison population is not getting help for a mental health or addiction issue, which is likely to be the reason they are in prison in the first place.

He said people are being “failed” and are more likely to reoffend without the proper interventions in prison.

“That’s the full responsibility of the minister for justice, who seems to take no interest, not only in the welfare of prisoners, but in the welfare of the communities in which they're released back into,” he said.

“This is a gross failure on his part, a failure of responsibility.

“It's negligent beyond compare, in the sense that harm is done to the general population against whom crimes are committed.

“The people who are doing them are being sent into a prison system as a form of holding pen before they're released out without the right level of medical health intervention, and then they become more dangerous to the communities into which they're released back.”