2108. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether the Department has assessed the effectiveness of delivering psychological and addiction services to prisoners serving short sentences; and whether alternative community-based or post-release treatment pathways are being developed. [25648/26]

Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: The Irish Prison Service delivers a large number of psychological and addiction services to prisoners, many of which include those serving short sentences. The Irish Prison Service is committed to an evidence-based approach to practice and policy, and the Irish Prison Service Research Unit supports the organisation to assess the effectiveness of many of these services through external and collaborative research, and internal service evaluation and audit. Examples of recently completed pieces of published research are available on the research webpage of the IPS website.

To support rehabilitation, reduce reoffending and assist with reintegration into society, people in custody have access to a growing range of medical and rehabilitative services. These include methadone substitution treatment, counselling, psychological intervention, peer to peer support programmes, psycho-education and the Treatment and Rehabilitation Programme provided by Merchants Quay Ireland, available in the Medical Unit in Mountjoy Prison.

Treatment provided to people in prison who may be struggling with addiction is in line with the provisions of the following: National Drug Strategy; the IPS Drugs Strategy 2023-2026; the IPS Health Needs Assessment and the High Level Task Force (HLTF) on the mental health and addiction challenges of persons interacting with the criminal justice system. The IPS also works closely with Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous who provide support to people in custody across the prison estate. Interventions that support prisoners to address addiction and rehabilitation require engagement and action, including follow up access to services on release, which is supported by cross-departmental and cross-agency strategies.

My Department is committed to implementing a range of policies to achieve this. The Programme for Government 2025 commits to establishing a high-dependency unit in the prison estate to address severe mental health and addiction challenges and to hiring more therapeutic and medical staff, including psychiatric nurses. The development of post release treatment pathways is an important element of the Irish Prison Service Strategy under the pillar ‘Prisoner Pathways’. The Irish Prison Service is engaging the HSE and other community-based organisations to support safer transitions from prison to community, particularly for people with physical, mental health and addiction needs.

The Probation Service has a long history of assisting service users in identifying, supporting and responding effectively to substance misuse issues. This is reflected in the provision of direct interventions with service users, through motivational engagement, targeted programmes and appropriate referrals.

Within the HSE Model of Care there are four tiers of treatment provision, with the HSE and voluntary agencies assuming responsibility for specialist drug treatment provision. The Probation Service is a Tier 1 service, whose primary role is to encourage substance misusers to engage with and avail of treatment services. Such interventions can also include the social reintegration and rehabilitation support necessary, following the discharge from such specialist treatment provided in Tier 3 or Tier 4 settings. The Probation Service engages in brief interventions to assist those with substance misuse issues, in order to address their problems as part of their broader case management plans.

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Dáil Éireann debate. Questions 2100 - Prison service [25608/26]

2100. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the specific supports, services, and clinical care that have been provided to remand prisoners with acute mental illness in Irish prisons since January 2026; the number of staff, including psychiatrists, psychologists, and nurses, that have been assigned to deliver this care; the protocols which exist to ensure timely access to assessments and treatment; the monitoring or oversight mechanisms that are in place to measure the standard and timeliness of mental health care; and to provide, by month, the number of psychiatric and psychological assessments conducted, the number of prisoners receiving active treatment plans, and the average waiting times for access to inpatient or specialist care. [25608/26]

Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: I am working to ensure our prison system is equipped to deal with the complex needs of people with mental health difficulties who encounter the criminal justice system and those committed to prison by the courts, and am working closely with the Minister for Health and the Minister of State for Mental Health to achieve this.

I am advised that protocols associated with the assessment and treatment of people with major mental illness, monitoring and oversight, the number of psychiatric assessments completed, and average wait times for inpatient or specialist care are available from the National Forensic Mental Health Service. This information is not held by the Irish Prison Service. The NFHMS provides a service to all prisoners regardless of their sentence status.

The National Forensic Mental Health Service have recently provided updated caseload figures for January 2026 to the Irish Prison Service of 363 people nationally. This caseload includes people with the most severe mental health difficulties across the estate, including schizophrenia and psychosis, bipolar disorder and major depression. The Irish Prison Service does not have a breakdown of what proportion of this cohort are on remand versus sentenced.

As of 31 March 2026, there were 32 prisoners awaiting transfer to the Central Mental Hospital. These 32 people have been assessed by an NFMHS Consultant Psychiatrist as requiring treatment in the Central Mental Hospital. However, owing to bed capacity constraints they remain in the care and custody of the Irish Prison Service. It is important to note that the Irish Prison Service is not a mental health facility.

The Irish Prison Service has the following authorised nursing & General Practitioner posts: 14 Chief Nurse Officers, 156 nurses and 14 General Practitioners. The Irish Prison Psychology Service has the following authorised posts: a Head of Service, a Principal Psychologist Manager, a Principal Specialist Psychologist, 14 Senior Psychologists, 23.4 Staff Grade Psychologists and 14 Assistant Psychologists. A proportion of each psychologist's caseload would include people with major mental illness, either sentenced or on remand.

In relation to the Psychology Service, various protocols including the management of psychology care pathways, wait list management, decision support frameworks and primary care mental health interventions govern timeliness of mental health care provision. Oversight is provided internally through monitoring of supervision and continual professional development protocols and externally through the Inspector of Prisons and Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture.

The Programme for Government commits to establishing a high-dependency unit in the Irish Prison Service to address severe mental health and addiction challenges and to hiring more therapeutic and medical staff, including psychiatric nurses.

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Dáil Éireann debate. Questions 2103, 2104, 2105, 2106, 2107, 2109 - Prison service

2103. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of prisoners in Cork Prison currently awaiting access to psychological services; the average waiting time for assessment and treatment; the staffing levels allocated to prison psychology services in Cork; and any plans to increase capacity. [25643/26]

2104. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of prisoners in Cork Prison currently awaiting addiction treatment services; the providers contracted to deliver these services; the annual funding allocated; and the steps being taken to ensure timely access to treatment. [25644/26]

2105. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether the Department has assessed the number of prisoners released from Cork Prison without receiving recommended psychological or addiction treatment in each of the past three years; and the policy implications of such outcomes for reoffending and public safety. [25645/26]

2106. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the extent to which overcrowding impacts clinician access within Cork Prison; whether any formal risk assessments have been conducted regarding reduced access to clinical services; and if so, to provide details. [25646/26]

2107. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration Justice the national average rates of prisoners awaiting psychological and addiction treatment; how Cork Prison compares; and whether Cork has been identified as a priority site for intervention. [25647/26]

2109. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration how current levels of overcrowding in Cork Prison impact the delivery of the Irish Prison Service rehabilitation strategy; and whether any elements of that strategy are currently not being delivered as intended [25650/26]

Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: I propose to take Questions Nos. 2103, 2104, 2105, 2106, 2107 and 2109 together.

I am advised by the Irish Prison Service that all those committed to prison are subject to a comprehensive nursing and medical assessment by the prison healthcare team. A key component of this is a mental health and addiction assessment. Where necessary, the person is referred to the National Forensic Mental Health Service, the Psychology Service, and/or addiction services. Assessment and treatment is provided as clinically indicated.

The Irish Prison Service engages Merchants Quay Ireland to provide a prison-based addiction counselling service across the Irish prison estate at a cost of over €1m annually. Merchants Quay Ireland provides a range of group and individual based counselling programmes including motivational interviewing and enhancement therapy, a twelve-step facilitation programme, cognitive behavioural therapy and harm reduction approaches.

Further addiction service opportunities are being introduced on a phased basis through the addition of Addiction Project Workers, including to Cork Prison. The initiative aims to specifically engage individuals who are on remand or serving short sentences.

One senior psychologist, two staff grade psychologists, one assistant psychologist and two addiction counsellors are allocated to Cork Prison. At the current time, one staff grade psychologist and one addiction counsellor post are vacant with work ongoing to recruit to both positions. More broadly, the Irish Prison Service is currently reviewing the number of psychologists and addiction counsellors available to prisons in light of overcrowding and this review will include Cork Prison.

Information requested in relation to waiting lists is provided in Table 1 below. Waiting lists for March 2026 are currently being finalised and future wait list numbers will be available on the Irish Prison Service website.

Table 1: Waitlist figures for MQI and Psychology Services per prison (Feb 2026)

In 2025, a total of 2,724 individuals were referred to the Irish Prison Psychology Service for assessment and/or intervention, however wait times to see a psychologist in 2025 are broken down nationally rather than per prison. Similar information is not available for addiction counselling at the current time, however work is being progressed with Merchant Quay Ireland to standarise this.

Nationally, 649 people were seen for triage by a psychologist. Of this, 220 (33.9%) people were seen within 12 weeks, 122 (18.8%) people were seen within 12-24 weeks and 307 (47.3%) people waited over 24 weeks to be seen. Similarly, 586 people were seen by a psychologist specifically for mental health intervention. Of this, 181 (30.89%) people were seen within 12 weeks, 77 (13.14%) people were seen within 12-24 weeks and 328 (55.97%) people waited over 24 weeks to be seen.

Finally, 804 people were seen by a psychologist for comprehensive assessments, specific interventions for young people, or offence focused work. Of these, 622 (77.36%) people were seen within 12 weeks, 28 (3.48%) people were seen within 12-24 weeks and 154 (19.15%) people waited over 24 weeks to be seen.

Overcrowding in the Irish Prison Service impacts clinical waitlists in two ways. Firstly, an increased prison population means more people are referred to each service with clinical need.

Secondly, overcrowding impacts operational management of prisons, which can reduce clinician access. As a result, a proportion of those referred to addiction counsellors and psychologists may be released without having had access to assessment or treatment.

In 2025, 784 people were released nationally without commencing or fully completing their engagement with the psychology service. Prisons use an agreed regime management plan to support access by clinicians to people in custody on a daily basis. Regime management plans are informed by risk assessment to ensure safe systems of work in each prison.

In relation to policy implications associated with not seeing the appropriate treatment provider in custody, it is well established through international evidence that untreated criminogenic needs in custody reduces the effectiveness of imprisonment as a rehabilitative intervention and untreated criminogenic needs are significant drivers of reoffending. As a result, the Irish Prison Service is enhancing its use of the Risk Needs Responsivity model to inform prioritisation of moderate and high-risk cohorts for intervention.

Furthermore, as previously mentioned, the Irish Prison Service will expand its resource capacity through a review of the number of psychologists and addiction counsellors required as a result of overcrowding, as well as progressing work to strengthen links and enhance prison to community throughcare pathways, subject to the provision of the necessary resources.