I propose to take Questions Nos. 52 and 134 together.
As of 30 September 2010, there were 34 prisoners throughout the prison system on waiting lists for drug treatment programmes. No prisoner has been on the waiting list for more than three months. Table 1. shows the number on the waiting list by prison. I am advised by the Director General of the Irish Prison Service that the current waiting list will be cleared within 1 month.
Prison
|
Number of Waiting List
|
Mountjoy
|
23
|
Midlands
|
3
|
Wheatfield
|
2
|
Cloverhill
|
6
|
A report on Prison Drug Treatment Services in Ireland (March 2008) highlighted the high level of need for addiction services among the prison population and the upward increase in the number of prisoners treated. This clinical evaluation confirmed that the Irish Prison Service drug treatment services are to the forefront internationally, particularly when judged against the numbers receiving methadone maintenance treatment.