Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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306. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if prisoners are permitted to own mobile phones; if not, whether he believes that many do possess such items when this is not permissible; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47789/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that under section 36 (1) of the Prisons Act, 2007 it is a criminal offence for a prisoner to be in possession of a mobile phone without the permission of the prison governor. Only a small number of prisoners in Shelton Abbey Open Centre have the permission of the governor to be in possession of mobile phones, in keeping with its minimum security status. Further, only prisoners on Enhanced Regime are permitted this facility which is subject to close monitoring and a written agreement from the relevant prisoners regarding permissible use.

Given advances in mobile telecommunications technology, mobile phones are becoming increasingly small in size, which provides the Irish Prison Service with particular challenges in seeking to (i) prevent their entry into prisons and (ii) locate them when smuggled inside. Specialist staff, however, are employed by the Irish Prison Service to combat this problem to the greatest extent possible. Due to improvements in security within our Prisons the number of mobile phones being seized in the previous 3 years has reduced from 1,718 seizures in 2010 to 1,368 in 2011 to 1,150 in 2012. In that regard, I wish also to advise the Deputy that between 1 January 2013 and 13 October 2013, 675 mobile phones had been seized by the staff of the Irish Prison Service.