Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

I am interested in this amendment, which the Tánaiste signalled on Committee Stage. Reports of drug overlords, to use a hackneyed phrase, running their drug empires from their prison cells are of serious concern. I do not know whether these reports are urban myths or the reality, but perhaps the Tánaiste is in a position to provide the House with some details on the extent of the organisation of crime from prisons using mobile technology. I do not know how much of this matter has been exaggerated by the media, but I would be interested in hearing the Tánaiste's assessment. Judging from the legislative measure proposed, which seems to be a response to a reality in the prison system rather than a preventative provision, I take it the matter is of serious concern.

On this amendment, which we have just seen for the first time, the Tánaiste has given the exemption of "without the permission of the governor of the prison". Does this phrase have further meaning? If the governor was sick, absent or away on holiday, is there an understood mechanism to deal with the issue, namely, a devolution of responsibility, or would it be ultra vires for someone else to give such permission in the event of an emergency? In most instances, the prisoner would be given access to a landline rather than a mobile telephone.

As we are enshrining a criminal offence, the possession of what other device or implement would constitute a criminal offence? Presumably, it is a criminal offence for a prisoner to have drugs. Is the prisoner punished under the rules of the Prison Service or prosecuted on the basis of a unique criminal offence? I presume the possession of an offensive weapon is also a criminal offence. Are these cases punished as criminal offences or are they captured by the prisons' disciplinary systems? Is this a stand-alone issue or is it part of a broad compass of criminal law relating to the possession of prohibited materials and goods by a prisoner?

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