Vol. 448 No. 7
75 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Justice the prisons where it is known by the prison authorities that drugs are being smuggled into the prison for use by prisoners; and the action, if any, she will take to address this matter. [2857/95]
I am very concerned about the drugs problem in some of the prisons.
It is the case that in this country we operate a fairly liberal regime for offenders and their visitors and some of them take advantage of this to bring in illicit drugs.
Deputies will be aware of my Department's view that it would be possible to modify the regime for prisoners in such a way as to virtually eliminate the problem. The revised regime, however, would have to include severe restrictions on free association between prisoners, more frequent searches of cells and prisoners, including stripsearches, the searching of all visitors to prisons, the erection of barriers between prisoners and all visitors to prevent personal contact, even with children, and the introduction of more intrusive technology. So restrictive and inhumane a regime would however, punish the innocent as well as the guilty and could cause irreparable harm to relationships with families, including children.
Steps which are being taken to keep drugs out of the prisons include a high level of staff vigilance, closed circuit video surveillance, screening of prisoners after visits and regular searches of the prisons.
