An Cathaoirleach: We have apologies from Deputy Devine and Senator Ryan. Deputy Ó Murchú is substituting for Deputy Devine.

I welcome our witnesses: from Merchants Quay Ireland Ms Niamh McGuinness, deputy head of operations, prisons and regional addiction services, and Mr. Karl Ducque, treatment and recovery programme co-ordinator; from Spéire Nua Mr. Damien Quinn, founder; and from the Peter McVerry Trust Ms Noelle Woods, director of nursing, addiction, IPAS and housing first services, and Ms Stephanie Kirwan, head of services, health, mental health and standards. You are all very welcome to our committee.

All opening statements have been circulated to members and will be published on the Oireachtas website after this session. As agreed, opening statements will be limited to five minutes each to allow time for questions and answers. I am conscious of the wide range of issues to be discussed today. If necessary, further or more detailed information can be sent to the clerk for circulation to members.

I should also mention that members will be in and out of the committee room depending on their Dáil or Seanad requirements in the Chambers, so I ask witnesses not to read more into that.

I invite Ms Niamh McGuinness to deliver her opening statement.

Ms Niamh McGuinness I thank the committee for the invitation to speak on this important issue. As you said, a Chathaoirligh, my name is Niamh McGuinness and I am deputy head of operations with Merchants Quay Ireland.

Merchants Quay has been delivering addiction services in the Irish Prison Service for more than 15 years. The relationship between the voluntary service, namely, Merchants Quay, and the statutory IPS services is going from strength to strength as both recognise the indisputable need for enhanced addiction and mental health treatment services across the 13 prisons in Ireland.

It has been well covered in the media recently that the Irish prison population has surged, exceeding 122% capacity in many regions and 134% in Mountjoy. As of 21 January, there were 5,747 people in custody, 600 of them on mattresses. Although overcrowding is extremely problematic for both the people in prison and those working there, the true crisis is the unaddressed trauma, mental health challenges and addiction that drive the revolving door.

Research consistently indicates that approximately 70% of people entering the prison system arrive with an active substance use disorder or have received a custodial sentence for a crime directly related to their addiction. Despite these overwhelming numbers, not everyone gets to avail of addiction services while serving their sentences. This can be because of long waiting lists exacerbated by both staffing issues and a shortage of physical spaces available to see people.

Expecting people to just will their way out of addiction through punishment without treatment is a recipe for failure. Evidence shows that when we integrate rehabilitation into the prison environment and promote the possibility of recovery, the results can be transformative.

Merchants Quay, in collaboration with our colleagues in IPS care and rehabilitation, is working to diversify the services provided to those individuals in prison impacted by addiction and mental health. One-to-one addiction psychotherapy is not enough on its own, so we are developing psychoeducational groups, case management, prison recovery education, recovery coaching and the treatment and rehabilitation programme, TARP, which my colleague will present on in a moment, which are all proven to support people to stabilise their lives and prepare for recovery after prison. The benefits of these interventions extend well beyond the individual as successful prison-based treatment is a win for the families, the community and wider society. Reduced recidivism benefits the judicial system and the economic benefit is undeniable. Access to people and to spaces to provide these services is an ongoing challenge.

Currently, we deliver an evidence-based treatment programme, TARP, from a dedicated and secure landing in the Mountjoy campus. There are spaces for nine men to complete this eight-week programme, with five cycles run per year. That equates to just 45 men per year for a prison population exceeding 5,000, and, currently, there are zero places for women. While the work to establish alternatives to criminalising people with addiction continues, the need for a dedicated and secure space in each of the prisons to provide treatment programmes is undisputed.

(click here for the full debate)

Opening statement, Niamh McGuinness, Deputy Head of Operations, Prisons & Regional Addiction Services, Merchant’s Quay Ireland

Opening statement, Karl Ducque, Coordinator, Treatment and Recovery Programme (TARP), Merchant’s Quay Ireland

Opening statement, Damien Quinn, Founder, Spéire Nua