asked the Minister for Justice if he will make a statement regarding the amounts of drugs getting into each of the prisons in this country at present; if he will make a statement on the way in which such drugs are getting in; the extent to which they contribute to drug addiction in prisons; and the action he intends to take in this respect.
Written Answers. - Drugs in Prisons.
24.
It is not possible to quantify the amount of drugs being abused in the prisons as not all incidents of such abuse would come to the notice of the prison authorities.
Incidents of drug abuse do take place within the prisons but I am not aware of the evidence to support assertions made from time to time that such abuse is widespread. If this was, in fact, the case then one would expect a far higher level of related incidents — such as overdoses — to come to light than is borne out by the reality.
The Deputy will appreciate that, given the very small amounts involved, it is not very difficult to conceal a package containing drugs. There have been a number of incidents where people have been found passing drugs during visits to offenders.
Measures to prevent smuggling of drugs into the prisons are constantly reviewed. One of the measures taken was the installation of closed-circuit television cameras at Mountjoy to help monitor visits. Arrangements are in hand to extend these measures to some of the other institutions.
There are difficulties in trying to strike the right balance between measures to prevent the smuggling of drugs into the prisons and preserving a humane regime in the prisons. For example, all physical contact on visits could be banned but this would necessitate a deterioration in the regime for offenders the majority of whom have no involvement with drug abuse while in custody. A vigorous programme of strip searching of prisoners might also be effective but there would be problems also if this approach were adopted.
The prison authorities are conscious of the need to take all reasonable steps to prevent drugs getting into prisons and the matter has also been the subject of discussion between the Prison Officers Association and my Department.