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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 23 Oct 1985

Vol. 361 No. 1

Ceisteanna—Questions Oral Answers - Drug Addicted Prisoner Treatment.

37.

asked the Minister for Justice if, in view of the discovery of a high level of drug addiction in prisons, he will now establish a special treatment unit for offenders within the prison system.

(Limerick East): Provision of a treatment unit as part of the prison system along the lines apparently intended by the Deputy has not been recommended by any of the various bodies who have examined this matter. The question of the provision of treatment for prisoners addicted to drugs is a complex one and general experience indicates that treatment in a coercive setting is not conducive to achieving the desired result. What is needed is the active support of the addict, on a voluntary basis, and where there are indications that an individual prisoner has the necessary commitment I am prepared to consider releasing that prisoner to attend at a treatment centre such as Coolmine. The question of providing a separate unit for the screening and detoxification of drug-addicted prisoners has been considered from time to time but due to pressure on accommodation no such unit has been provided.

Because of the high level of drug addiction in prisons can the Minister assure the House that at this late stage he will introduce a treatment unit within the prison system to deal specifically with prisoners who have drug problems?

(Limerick East): As a result of the very effective work of the Garda there are now behind bars a number of people who are addicted to drugs. This is an absolute consequence of the effective attack on the drug problem on our streets. There are drug treatment facilities available to prisoners in Mountjoy. That is the only prison in which the problem exists. The facilities include detoxification and good co-operation with the drug unit in Jervis Street hospital. Any prisoner who is not violent by nature will be sent by me to the Coolmine centre or to one of its associated houses. The difficulty arises in respect of persons with drug problems who have to be kept within the prison system on grounds of security or of propensity to violence. For those prisoners I am trying to provide the best possible facilities within Mountjoy in order to ensure that they will be given treatment for their addiction.

Professional groups — chaplains, for example — have remarked that drug addicts enter prison frequently in very poor physical condition but that their general health condition improves dramatically after from four to six weeks as a result of the care and attention given them. Dr. Geoffrey Dean of the Medico-Social Research Board made the same point during an RTE interview following the publication of the MSRB report on drug abuse in the north inner city.

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