Prisoner health - Mentally ill deserve the best of care

The failure to deliver on an agreement between the Departments of Justice and Health, to facilitate a faster transfer of mentally ill prisoners to hospital, is resulting in them being denied crucial treatment.

This untenable situation is highlighted in the annual report of the Inspector of Mental Hospitals.

Both the Department of Justice and the Prison Service want an additional 30 beds provided in the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum.

Such a move would entail 60 extra staff, at a recurring cost of €6 million, phased in over two years, but it would facilitate an increase in the number of prisoners receiving treatment from 100 to 300.

Quite obviously, prison is not the ideal place for those who are in need of care for mental illness, and it is a reflection on the system that such care is not being provided.

Just how pressing the problem is can be gauged from the fact that about 40% of the prison population have a form of mental illness, according to the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT).

Even conditions in the Central Mental Hospital are not ideal for the treatment of those patients, in the opinion of psychologist Ed Boyne, a spokesman for the IPRT, who is highly critical of the manner in which mentally ill prisoners are treated in this country.

It is inconceivable to most people that seriously ill prisoners are being kept in a containment or “caging” system, rather than a caring one.

Yet, that is his description of how Ireland, one of the wealthiest countries in Europe and one which would consider itself a caring society, treats mentally ill prisoners.

He has gone as far as to say that some of the vacant beds in the Central Mental Hospital are not suitable for animals.

It is a shocking indictment of a system which is treating some of the most marginalised with frightening indifference.

Apart from an appalling lack of treatment for mental illness, a number of international conventions are being breached in a way which would not be tolerated by others cognisant of their rights.

The fact that people with mental illness should be practically discarded so callously is not acceptable.

Mr Boyne is convinced that the agreement which would facilitate additional beds and staff in Dundrum will never be acted upon.

The plight of these prisoners demands urgent action and funds should be made available immediately to provide them with the treatment they need.

From the tenor of the criticism by the IPRT, it would appear that the entire system of caring for mentally ill prisoners should be overhauled and brought into the 21st century.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell wants to build more prison spaces, yet it is patently obvious that a more understanding and caring culture is absent from the current regime for too many prisoners who have special medical needs.