Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 183: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of mobile phones confiscated in prisons here in 2007; the number confiscated in 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42985/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The problem of mobile phone use in prisons is a major challenge for prison services worldwide. The Irish Prison Service is dealing with this problem through a multifaceted approach which incorporates: measures to prevent the smuggling of mobile phones into prisons, search and find operations aimed at locating and removing phones from within the prisons and the installation of mobile phone blocking technology.

Airport style scanners and x-ray machines are in operation at the entrances to most of our closed prisons and the installation programme for the remaining prisons is nearing completion. Cell and area searches for contraband such as mobile phones take place in all our prisons on a daily basis. These include random, targeted and intelligence led searches, many of which are now carried out by the recently established Operational Support Group. It is my understanding that these searches have been particularly effective and local intelligence indicates that the availability of mobile phones has decreased across the prison system. The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the following table.