This is the first systematic and representative survey of mental health in the Irish Prison population, using standardised research diagnostic methods. Five samples have been compiled, including 7% of all men committed to prison in 2003, 50% of all men in custody on remand, 15% of all sentenced men, 9% of all women committed to prison in 2003 and 90% of all women in prison. A total of 1,396 men and 186 women were interviewed, 1,582 in all. Samples were closely representative of the total populations from which they were drawn. We also mapped the geographic origins of all those committed to prison over a twelve-month period.

We found that drugs and alcohol dependence and harmful use were by far the most common problems, present in between 61% and 79% of prisoners. Typically, prisoners were using multiple intoxicants, including alcohol, benzodiazepines, opiates, cannabis and stimulants.