IPRT believes that responsibility for the provision of healthcare should be transferred from the IPS to the HSE. In addition to this, IPRT believes that those with mental illness should be diverted away from the criminal justice system and should be treated within a community setting, where possible.
This section includes posts on health in prison, including mental health and drug policy.
12th July 2012
UK government social care White Paper promises to clarify responsibility in relation to the provision of care of elderly prisoners.
27th April 2012
IPRT made a detailed Submission to the Cross Sectoral Group on Mental Health and Criminal Justice in April 2012.
4th April 2012
The Inspector of Mental Health Services has published a National Overview of Forensic Mental Health Services in Ireland in 2011, outlining current service delivery, unmet needs and how this sector might best be developed in years to come.
12th December 2011
This report, published by the Prison Drug Treatment Strategy Review Group, reviews drug treatment and interventions in prisons and for people on release from prison in England. It goes on to make several recommendations relating to drug treatment programmes in prison and the community.
11th August 2011
June Shannon examines whether the State is meeting the basic human rights of Irish prisoners with a mental illness in an overcrowded and decaying jail system.
30th May 2011
The Inspector of Prisons, Judge Michael Reilly, has published 'best practice' guidelines for the physical healthcare that should be available to prisoners in our prisons.
4th January 2011
Writing in the 'Irish Examiner', Noel Baker reports that 1,200 prisoners are now accessing drug counselling in prison, while 34 people are on a waiting list for drug treatment programmes.
20th December 2010
This report by the Health Service Executive represents the first external review of the Methadone Treatment Protocol in Ireland. It seeks to examine the regulatory process and oversight of methadone and opiate dependence treatment.
8th December 2010
There is an acute awareness that within this State the majority of offenders entering custodial institutions suffer from one form of drug addiction or another, yet one of largest prisons in the state, Cork Prison, still lack the capability of providing essential methadone services.
8th December 2010
The current facilities available for accommodating prisoners at risk of self-harm and suicide in Mountjoy Prison would appear to be grossly inadequate, according to a published report by the Inspectors at the Mental Health Commission.
Respect for rights in the penal system with prison as a last resort.