Michael McGrath
Question:564 Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the sanctions imposed on prisoners who have had illegal drugs confiscated from them by the prison authorities. [1088/10]
View answerTuesday, 19 January 2010
Questions (504)
Written answers
The sanctions for breach of prison discipline are outlined in full in Section 13(1) of the Prisons Act, 2007, and can include one or more of the following:
issuing the prisoner with a caution
reprimanding the prisoner
confinement in a cell for a period not exceeding 3 days
prohibition of various privileges for a period not exceeding 60 days. This can include recreation, sending or receiving mail, receiving visits and making phone calls
forfeiture of up to 14 days remission
forfeiture of gratuity payments
On a wider level the prisoner can of course face criminal charges arising from the possession of drugs and a consequent penalty such as a further term of imprisonment. Further operational decisions may also be made having regard to the offence such as the prisoner being placed on screened visits, the banning of visitors who attempted to pass contraband and / or the transfer of the prisoner to another institution. Persistent offenders can also be segregated from the general prison population.