Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 345: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the measures which will be pursued within the prison system in the event of a prisoner testing positive for drug misuse, following the introduction of mandatory drug testing; his views on whether adequate drug assessment, counselling and treatment services are available within the prison services here to deal with anticipated increased numbers of inmates testing positive for drug misuse; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23182/05]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 361: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will commit to undertake an independent scientific evaluation of the proposed mandatory drug testing programme in prisons; if he will state when such an evaluation will take place; if the findings of such an evaluation will be made publicly available; if he will commit to the ending the programme should the evaluation show it to be failing to meet its objectives; and if he will not commit to such an independent evaluation to explain his reasons. [23243/05]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 362: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the anticipated annual cost of his proposed mandatory drug testing programme in prisons. [23244/05]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 363: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to cite the evidentiary basis substantiating his public statement on 22 June 2005 that most countries in the world use mandatory drug testing in prisons; and if he will provide a complete list of the countries to which he was referring. [23245/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 345 and 361 to 363, inclusive, together.

As envisaged in the programme for Government, the introduction of mandatory drug testing will play an important role in supporting future policy on drug supply and demand reduction in prisons. Prisoners accommodated in the open centres at Shelton Abbey and Loughan House and in the designated drug free areas of the training unit in the Mountjoy complex, St. Patrick's Institution and Wheatfield Prison are already required to undergo frequent drug tests to confirm their drug-free status. Mandatory drug testing will, however, operate across the entire prison system.

Provision for mandatory drug testing, and the penalties that may be imposed arising from a positive test, are set out in the draft new prison rules, which were published on my Department's website on 22 June. The new rules will come into force in November of this year and will operate in conjunction with a new drugs policy for the Irish Prison Service. The policy will facilitate consistent regulation and operational structure in pursuing both supply and demand reduction and will involve the implementation of further stringent measures to prevent drugs from getting into prisons. At the same time, it will lead to continued investment in services within prisons to reduce the demand for illicit drugs in the prisoner population and meet prisoners' treatment needs. Developing and improving the therapeutic resources available to meet the needs of drug misusers within the prison system is an ongoing process. The introduction of mandatory drug testing will result in additional costs. The precise level of the costs involved will be dependent on a number of factors and are currently being determined.

Drug testing has been employed in many jurisdictions, such as the UK, the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, that have prison systems and drug problems comparable to those pertaining in this country. The experience of these countries, and any lessons learnt, will inform the development of practice in our prisons.

The Irish Prison Service is committed under the national drugs strategy 2001 to 2008 to commission and carry out an independent evaluation of the overall effectiveness of the prison service's strategies in relation to drugs. This review, which will be initiated in 2007, will cover all aspects of drug services in prisons including research on the levels and routes of supply of drugs in prisons. The introduction of mandatory drug testing will play an important role in determining, for the purposes of the evaluation, the patterns, levels and types of drug use in prisons.