Sorca Clarke
Question:951. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Justice the number of persons currently incarcerated due to drug-related offences or addiction-related issues, per prison, in tabular form. [46483/24]
View answerWednesday, 22 January 2025
Questions (951)
Written answers
As the Deputy may already know, it is estimated that up to 70% of the prisoner population have addiction issues.
The Irish Prison Service aims to provide a health care service for prisoners with addictions in a structured, safe and professional way in line with international best practice. The IPS continues to be committed to, and involved with, the National Drugs Strategy in partnership with its community colleagues and organisations. In 2023, the Irish Prison Service published its own Drugs Strategy with three pillars which aim to Inform & Educate, Detect & Reduce and Support & Treat. In addition, the Irish Prison Service recruited a National Clinical Lead for Mental Health and Addiction in Q2 of 2024.
The Irish Prison Service spends in excess of €1m per annum on the provision of an addiction-counselling service in Irish prisons. This service is supplied by Merchants Quay Ireland (MQI), who provide a prison-based addiction-counselling service across the entire Irish Prison Service estate with the exception of Arbour Hill Prison and the Training Unit, where there is currently no clinical need for such a service. However, this is being reviewed.
I can inform the Deputy that the Irish Prison Service have provided figures in Table 1 of the 443 individuals under sentence for Controlled Drug Offences on 31 December 2024.
While addiction-related issues are a significant factor that contribute to criminal activity, the Irish Prison Service does not hold centralised data in respect of the contributory factors that led to an individual’s offence or imprisonment.
Table 1
|
Establishment Name |
Total |
|
Castlerea Prison |
15 |
|
Cloverhill Remand Prison |
19 |
|
Cork Prison |
22 |
|
Limerick Prison |
30 |
|
Loughan House |
63 |
|
Midlands Prison |
58 |
|
Mountjoy Prison |
103 |
|
Portlaoise Prison |
27 |
|
Shelton Abbey |
36 |
|
Wheatfield Prison |
68 |
|
Training Unit |
2 |
|
Total |
443 |