People with major mental illness are over-represented in Irish courts and prisons, particularly in remand settings. A Psychiatric Prison Inreach and Court Liaison Service (PICLS) has been delivered by the HSE National Forensic Mental Health Service from Cloverhill Remand Prison since 2006.
Diversion may be broadly defined as the transfer of persons with mental illness from the criminal justice system to locations where they may receive appropriate treatment. By early 2024, PICLS had facilitated over 2000 diversions to community inpatient and outpatient settings, as well as to the Central Mental Hospital for persons remanded to Cloverhill Prison. The service has published a series of papers describing clinical outcomes over extended periods since inception in 2006.
This workshop will consist of:
1. Description of psychiatric and prison resourcing in Ireland over time.
2. Prevalence of mental illness in prison settings in Ireland and internationally.
3. Legislative and policy issues in Ireland.
4. Stepped care model for mental health care delivery in Irish prisons.
5. Prison Inreach and Court Liaison Service model of care.
6. Diversion from custody to mental health care: Case vignettes.
7. Research 1: Counting in and counting out male prisoners from Ireland’s main remand prison since 2006: Mental Health Outcomes and “revolving door” patients.
8. Research 2: Forensic admissions over time and other outcomes for persons placed on waiting list for admission from Irish prisons over 5 years.
9. Changes in caseloads in remand prison and in demand from courts over 20 years.
10. Conclusions and Discussion.
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Conor O'Neill
Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist, National Forensic Mental Health Service, Ireland
Dr O’Neill is a Consultant Psychiatrist with the HSE National Forensic Mental Health Service. He did part of his Irish Higher Training with the Statewide Community and Court Liaison Service in New South Wales and set up the Prison Inreach and Court Liaison Service at Cloverhill, Ireland’s main male remand prison in 2006. He is also an Associate Clinical Professor in Forensic Psychiatry at Trinity College, Dublin and a member of the Advisory Group to the Quality Network for Prison Mental Health Services in the UK and Ireland.
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Eimear Ní Mhuircheartaigh
Senior Registrar, National Forensic Mental Health Service, Ireland
Dr Ní Mhuircheartaigh is a Higher Specialist Trainee in psychiatry, currently working in Cloverhill Prison, Dublin, Ireland. Dr Ní Mhuircheartaigh has worked clinically in the area of forensic psychiatry across both inpatient and prison settings and in forensic psychiatric research at the Central Mental Hospital, Dundrum, Ireland. Dr. Ní Mhuircheartaigh is engaged in research and clinical practice aimed at improving psychiatric care in correctional environments and addressing the complexities of mental health within the justice system.