Seán Power
Question:204 Mr. S. Power asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his plans for reducing the use of drugs in Irish prisons. [23965/02]
Written Answers. - Drugs in Prisons.
The Irish Prisons Service is resolutely committed to tackling drug abuse in prisons in a comprehensive manner and has my full support in this. It involves a twin track approach of supply and demand reduction.
The Prisons Service will continue to seek to reduce the demand for drugs within the prison system by the education, treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicted offenders. An action plan on drug misuse and drug treatment in the prison system was approved in 1999. This advocated a broad-based approach to raise the level of treatment for drug addicted offenders. The 1999 action plan, which built on an agreed policy between the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the then Eastern Health Board, advocated the expansion of detoxification facilities, more drug-free areas and the provision of methadone maintenance. It is my intention to continue with the implementation of the action plan.
The national steering group, established in 1999 to implement the action plan, continues to pursue a multi-disciplinary approach to the drugs problem with substantial input from the health sector, especially the Eastern Regional Health Authority. The group is chaired by the director of regimes in the Irish Prisons Service.
There has been considerable progress in regard to the steering group's work. This includes: a drug service co-ordinator from the ERHA is now in place; and a deputy governor now has the position of training officer for drug treatment work by prison grades and has been in situ since October 2001. He will deliver training programmes designed to enhance and further professionalise prison officers involved in interpersonal work with prisoners undergoing drug treatment. There is now extensive access to methadone maintenance for prisoners in the Dublin area which is a complete transformation of the situation which existed up to 2000. Designated drug free wings were opened in St. Patrick's Institution in November 2000 and in Wheatfield Prison in April. Other such wings are due to open at more prisons over the coming months.
The training unit in Mountjoy has been a drug-free unit since 1996. As many as 70 qualified nurses are in place to administer methadone programmes in the prisons and to monitor for any breaches of the programmes, along with their general duties. A further eight nurses are due to finish training on 6 December. They will take up duty in the prisons shortly afterwards; additional probation and welfare officers have also been authorised to work in this area. A senior probation and welfare officer and two team members have been recently assigned to drug treatment work within the Mountjoy complex; a number of other appointments are planned by the health boards in the eastern region for positions, both full-time and part-time, in the prisons in the Dublin area. These include consultant psychiatrists and addiction counsellors. Interviews to recruit the latter staff have taken place within the past month.
Extensive links have been established between Cork Prison and the local drugs task force and, through funding from the latter, two full-time addiction counsellors have been appointed to work in the prison. During 2001, at the request of the director general, a special linkage group, the prison and community drugs liaison group, was established between the governors of the main Dublin prisons and voluntary sector services which work with drug dependent people in the community.
Over 400 offenders have completed Mountjoy Prison's drug treatment programme. This is a six week course involving detoxification, where necessary, intensive counselling and psychological support for participants. The national steering group has recently established a multi-disciplinary working group, composed of the inhouse services and a member of the addiction studies department, Trinity College, to review the current drug treatment programme in the Mountjoy complex in terms of: the extent of ownership of the programme across a range of local stakeholders and voluntary agencies; the extent to which the programme matches current best practice; and to make relevant recommendations.
The Irish Prisons Service is committed to evaluating the effectiveness of all prison programmes, including those aimed at the reduction of drug misuse. Under the National Drugs Strategy 2001 to 2008, it has undertaken to commission and carry out an independent evaluation of the overall effectiveness of the prison strategy by mid-2004. This review will cover all aspects of drug services in prisons including research on the levels and routes of supply of drugs in prisons.
A number of other measures have also been implemented in recent years in an attempt to curtail the smuggling into and use of illegal drugs in the prison system. These measures include video surveillance, improved visiting/searching facilities and increased vigilance by staff. The introduction of screened visits in Cloverhill and the Midlands Prison accompanied by the erection of nets over the yards of Cork Prison and St. Patrick's Institution has further strengthened this policy.
In addition to these security arrangements, new visiting procedures are being implemented in Mountjoy Prison. These procedures were recently introduced as a means of reducing the supply of illegal drugs. Each prisoner must now indicate in advance that he expects a visit and that visitor is required to present photo identification confirming their identity. While these new procedures have met some resistance, the Irish Prisons Service is committed to eliminating the smuggling of drugs into the prison system.
This Government has given a commitment as part of its programme for Government to publish a plan to end heroin use in Irish prisons. A working group is currently considering the issue of drug use in a prisons context. It will shortly formalise proposals that will form the basis of a draft plan in accordance with the programme for Government.
It is the intention of both myself and the Irish Prisons Service to continue to place a high priority on battling the scourge of drug misuse among prisoners.