This is the first comprehensive health assessment undertaken for the Irish Prison Service. Work commenced in November 2019 by independent consultants, Crowe Ireland. Their report was delivered to a Steering Group, which included senior officials from the Departments of Justice and Health, and the Irish Prison Service (IPS), in early 2022.

The main recommendation of the report is that responsibility for prison healthcare services should remain with the IPS. It also recommends the development of formal pathways between the IPS and the wider health system, including the Department of Health and HSE, to enable the culture and recognition of the role of prisons within the health system and to address professional and service isolation.