Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 486: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his plans to ensure that drugs are eliminated from prisons here; the number of prisons that currently comprise a drug free section; his further plans to extend the number of drug free sections within prisons; the number of prisoners as a proportion of the total prison population who can be deemed to be drug free; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18410/07]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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In addition to the ongoing implementation of the Irish Prison Service Drugs Policy and Strategy, entitled Keeping Drugs out of Prison, the Deputy will also be aware that I have recently announced a range of security measures aimed at keeping contraband out of our prisons. These measures include:

The establishment of a drug detection dog service within the Irish Prison Service involving approximately 30 staff and an appropriate number of dogs; the Deputy will be aware that a pilot drug detection dog service has been in place since 23 May 2006 and is currently running in the Midlands/Portlaoise area and also in Wheatfield/Cloverhill Prisons and in the Mountjoy complex;

The establishment of an Operational Support Group dedicated to, and developing expertise in, searching and gathering intelligence; they will be available in addition to the normal prison staff and can target specific problem areas; and

The introduction of enhanced security screening and searching of all persons (prisoners, visitors and staff) entering our prisons.There are currently drug free units in Wheatfield Prison and St. Patrick's Institution. There is also a detox programme in operation in Mountjoy. Allied to this the Training Unit, Arbour Hill, Loughan House and Shelton Abbey are regarded as drug free institutions.

I am committed to ensuring that all prisons are drug free in line with commitments in the Drugs Policy and Strategy. It is extremely difficult to quantify the numbers of prisoners who can be deemed to be drug free, particularly given the extremely covert nature of illicit drug taking in a custodial setting and the absence to date of mandatory drug testing. In this context, the new Prison Rules 2007, which will come into effect on 01/10/2007 include specific provisions for mandatory drug testing.