The Deputy has raised a number of issues. The Irish Prisons Service is resolutely committed to tackling drug abuse in prisons in a comprehensive manner and has the full support of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform in this. On this issue, the Deputy can be assured that 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.
As part of the national drugs strategy's battle against the scourge of drugs, 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 plan.
The national steering group, which was established in 1999 to implement the action plan, continues to pursue a multidisciplinary approach to the drugs problem with substantial input from the health sector, particularly the Eastern Regional Health Authority. There has been considerable progress in regard to the work of the steering group and a number of initiatives have been completed. A drug service co-ordinator from the Eastern Regional Health Authority is now in place. A deputy governor now has the position of training officer for drug treatment work by prison grades. He has been in position since October 2001 delivering 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 from the situation which existed up to 2000. Designated drug-free wings opened in St. Patrick's Institution in November 2000 and in Wheatfield Prison in April 2002 and more are due to open at other prisons in the coming months. The training unit at Mountjoy has been drug-free since 1996.
Seventy qualified nurses are in place to administer methadone programmes in the prisons and monitor breaches of the programmes, along with carrying out their general duties. A further eight nurses are due to finish training on 6 December 2002, and will take up duty in the prisons shortly afterwards. Additional probation and welfare officers have also been authorised to work in this area. A number of other appointments are planned by the health boards in the eastern region for positions, both full-time and part-time, in prisons in the Dublin area. These include consultant psychiatrists and addiction counsellors. There are extensive links between Cork Prison and the local drugs task force.
During 2001, at the request of the director general, a special linkages 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 which commenced in 1996. The national steering group has recently established a multidisciplinary working group, composed of the in-house services and a member of the addiction studies department, Trinity College, to review the current drug treatment programme in the Mountjoy complex.
The Irish Prisons Service is committed to evaluating the effectiveness of all prison programmes, including those aimed at the reduction of drug misuse and, under the national drugs strategy 2001-2008, it has undertaken to commission and carry out an independent evaluation of the overall effectiveness of the prison strategy by mid-2004. Furthermore, a number of other measures have been implemented in recent years in an attempt to curtail smuggling 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 Midlands Prisons 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 and it is these procedures which appear to have sparked the incident referred to by the Deputy. The evidence for this is the fact that a petition objecting to the new procedures had recently been submitted to the governor by a number of the prisoners involved in the protest. I reiterate, on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, that these procedures are being introduced as part of the ongoing battle against the supply of illegal drugs.
On the morning of 25 November 2002, following unlock after breakfast, approximately 110 offenders on the B wing of Mountjoy Prison, apparently acting in unison, proceeded to throw the contents of their bins and empty their chamber pots onto the landing of the prison. No prisoner or prison officer received injuries during this protest. However, a number of officers received splashes from the chamber pot contents. The prisoners, who offered no resistance, were immediately placed back in their cells. These prisoners, with the exception of the short time required to escort small groups to receive their meals, remained locked in their cells for the whole day. Those with a significant involvement in the disturbance were disciplined by the governor in accordance with the rules for government of prisons. It is important to note that the other areas of the prison operated normally during the disturbance and were unaffected by the incident. It is also significant that the entire prison was unlocked, without incident, the next morning and, in the meantime, has experienced no further protests.
The new visiting procedures include the provision that each prisoner is now required to supply prison authorities with a list of up to six persons who they wish to visit them. Excluding their children and legal representatives, only those persons on this list and have been approved by the governor, will be permitted to visit the offender. In addition, each visitor, prior to receiving entry into the prison, is now required to present photo identification confirming their identity. Each prisoner is also entitled to request changes to his visitor list through the governor of the prison. While these new procedures have met with some resistance, the Irish Prisons Service is committed to eliminating the smuggling of drugs into the prison system and it is likely that, rather than give into the above protest, these procedures will soon be extended to other institutions.
The reasoning behind the introduction of this list system is evidence suggesting that a number of vulnerable prisoners were being pressurised into receiving visits from persons that they did not know for the sole purpose of attempting to smuggle drugs into the prison. I assure the Deputy that the six visitor rule is not inflexible. For example, in cases where a prisoner has a large family he can make a case to the governor who will, I am sure, treat the request sympathetically. Legitimate visitors will not, in the short-term, be denied access to the prison for the purpose of visits solely because of the lack of photo identification.
It is also, the belief of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, that it is highly appropriate from a security point of view for persons to provide identification prior to entering our prisons. People are often required to provide such identification for everyday events such as withdrawing money from a bank, claiming social welfare payments, opening an account with a video rental club or indeed, when they wish to purchase alcohol.
I must again stress that it is the intention of both the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Irish Prisons Service to continue to place a high priority on battling the scourge of drug misuse among prisoners and in the community. This Administration, in is programme for Government, has given a commitment to publish a plan to end heroin use in Irish prisons. In this context, a working group is currently considering the issue of drug use in a prisons context and, in accordance with the programme for Government, will shortly be submitting proposals which will form the basis of a draft plan.
