Parliamentary Question: Penal Reform Trust Report

25th February 2003

440. Ms McManus asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to recent research in the Irish Penal Reform Trust report, Out of Sight Out of Mind, showing that closed prisons may both increase and instigate mental illness and to the fact that this is particularly true for juveniles; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5553/03]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. McDowell): The research carried out by the Irish Penal Reform Trust, to which the Deputy refers, focused on the use of padded and strip cells in the prison system, and the mental health of prisoners who have been detained in those cells. The research did not establish any definite link between imprisonment and the development of mental illness, particularly in the context of such illness developing in juveniles.

The Prison Service is committed to health care standards comparable with those pertaining in the wider community outside prison. It is undoubtedly the case that vulnerable and mentally disordered people are among those committed to prison, and it is therefore important to obtain a clear picture of the extent of mental illness among prisoners and to monitor their mental health on an ongoing basis.

In this regard the incidence of mental illness among prisoners is the subject of a research project currently being undertaken by a team based in the Central Mental Hospital. The research, which is supported by the Irish Prison Service, is well advanced. The definitive results of this research will be published when available.