Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

That is a sad fact. To return to Senator Cummins's point, unfortunately, that prison is vulnerable to drugs being smuggled into it. It is no exception to the rest of the Mountjoy complex in this respect. Drugs can be catapulted over the wall. There have been incidents of drugs being intruded into the prison in that way.

Senator Cummins asked me whether there are drugs in prisons. There are, which is why we must revisit the issue. That is what the drugs strategy in prisons is all about. I make no apology to anyone and those who suggest that because there are drugs outside, there are bound to be drugs inside, are no more morally enlightened than I. That is a negative view of the prison system.

It is the duty of the State to keep prisons drug free and we must take the necessary steps to bring that about. However, other things must give way for prisons to be drug free, such as the right to have physical contact with visitors if that significantly enhances the risk of drugs getting into prisons except in highly controlled circumstances. People will say there are perfectly decent people in prison who should have contact but they are the people who are frequently subjected to bullying to abuse the prison visit to bring in drugs. It is not an easy situation. Much as I would love to live in a world where a child could be passed over the table to his or her father, for instance, in a prison, the fact is that such contact has regularly been abused in the past for the purpose of introducing drugs. I do not wish to comment on more recent events in regard to the passage of drugs. Vigilance in every respect is of great importance. Prison officers face an uphill battle in keeping prisons drug free.

Mobile telephones are prohibited in prison. It is the duty of the Prison Service to ensure that the prohibition is effective. There is more than one way of skinning a cat in that, on the one hand, there can be searches but jamming can also be employed. The Prison Service intends to introduce generally a system of jamming mobile telephones within the prison system.