I propose to take Questions Nos. 485 to 487, inclusive, together.
I have been advised by the Irish Prison Service that all persons in custody are provided with a range of healthcare services based on an equivalence of care to that which is provided under the General Medical Scheme in the community. Those services are based on the primary care model, and includes general practitioner services made available to all persons in custody.
The Irish Prison Service directly employs one permanent doctor in Midlands Prison and provides two locum doctors on an ongoing basis, by way of its contract agreement for the provision of locum GP services across the prison estate, with additional cover provided at weekends.
The Irish Prison Service continues to monitor the ratio of prisoners to doctors in each prison setting. In determining appropriate medical cover account is taken of a number of factors including, inter alia, other primary and secondary care resourcing, the age and presenting health status of the prisoner population, and the level of mental health and addiction need.