158 inmates in Castlerea Prison were waiting for psychological support from the Prison Service at the end of last year.
New figures released in the Dail last week, show 2,259 prisoners nationwide were on waiting lists for mental health services to treat conditions such as anxiety, depression, neurotic, stress and personality related disorders as well as PTSD.
Wait times for inmates to access psyc services at Castlerea Prison was up to 2 years in some cases, with the average prisoner wait recorded as 515 days.
Separately, 78 prisoners were waiting for addiction services or treatments in the Roscommon Prison by the end of 2022.
Addiction expert Dr Garrett McGovern says this issue 'is only going to get worse'.I think what it shows is the range of issues.
'We're not even talking here specially about mental health problems which, you know, are a huge component to it.
I think all in all, this is only going to get worse, so we definitely need to provide greater services to prison and medical services.'
