Written answers

Thursday, 30 September 2010

Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform

Prison Drug Treatment Services

10:30 am

Photo of Alan ShatterAlan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 233: To ask the Minister for Justice and Law Reform the drug treatment programmes in each of our prisons; the nature of the programmes; the number of persons involved in the provision of such programmes in each of our prisons and their qualifications; the number of prisoners in each of the past three years and this year to date in 2010 participating in any such programmes. [34218/10]

Photo of Dermot AhernDermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I am glad to have the opportunity to set out for the Deputy and the House the range of initiatives ongoing within the Irish Prison System to assist offenders to tackle their drug problems.

Firstly, as the Deputy will be aware the Irish Prison Service launched its s Drugs Policy & Strategy, entitled Keeping Drugs Out of Prisons, in May 2006. This blueprint for how we tackle drugs in the prison setting continues to be implemented across our prisons. This work involves the implementation of stringent measures to prevent drugs from getting into prisons while, at the same time, continuing to invest in services within prisons to reduce the demand for illicit drugs in the prisoner population through meeting prisoners' treatment and rehabilitative needs.

At present, any person entering prison giving a history of opiate use and testing positive for opioids on committal is offered a medically assisted symptomatic detoxification for operational reasons. Patients can, as part of the assessment process, discuss with healthcare staff other treatment options which may include stabilization on methadone maintenance for persons who wish to continue on maintenance while in prison and when they return to the community on release.

Given the large number of prisoners requiring drug treatment services, the Irish Prison Service endeavours to provide a comprehensive range of such services in closed prisons. Drug rehabilitation programmes for prisoners involve a significant multidimensional input by a diverse range of general and specialist services including addiction counselling provided both by the Irish Prison Service and visiting statutory and non-statutory organisations. Table 1 shows the treatment options available by prison.

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