Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 67: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of weapons or objects fashioned to act as weapons or otherwise dangerous objects that have been confiscated in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin, to date in 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19446/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to inform the Deputy that the number of weapons and potential or improvised weapons confiscated in Mountjoy Prison between 1 January 2010 and 2 May 2010 is 127. It should be noted that this number includes any item that may have been used as a weapon, for example, mugs, mops, food trays and sweeping brushes. It is also important to note that in many cases the items confiscated were found during routine searches or retrieved at entry point to the prison, and were never employed as a weapon within the prison. This is as a direct consequence of the newly introduced security measures.

The mission of the Irish Prison Service is to provide safe, secure and humane custody for those placed into custody. This is one of the main reasons for the introduction of recent security initiatives, such as airport style security screening including x-ray machines and scanning equipment, the establishment of the Operational Support Group, the establishment of the Drug Detection Dog Service within the Irish Prison Service, the segregation of a number of serious drug and criminal gang members in a high security unit in Cloverhill Prison and the use of phone detectors and phased installation of telephone blocking technology.

No level of inter prisoner violence is acceptable. Every effort is made by prison staff and management to limit the scope of acts of violence. While the prison regime is designed to limit the scope of acts of violence, it is not possible to completely eliminate the possibility of such acts in prisons holding a high proportion of violent offenders without introducing a regime that would be unacceptable. Recent statistics indicate that since the new security measures were implemented, there is a trend towards more homemade weapons being used, for example, weapons made out of perspex, sharpened toothbrushes, a pool ball in a sock, brush handles or water jugs. The rollout of enhanced security measures has made it more difficult for prisoners to secrete improvised weapons. Furthermore, prisoners identified as exerting undue influence or pressure over other prisoners receive close and continued attention and targeted searching from the Operational Support Unit. Attacks by prisoners on prisoners are not usually random acts of violence but are related to matters on the outside i.e. drug debts, gang rivalries.