Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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129. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of drug overdoses in Irish prisons in 2023 and 2024 to date, in tabular form. [39471/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that it is not possible to provide the information requested as overdoses are not recorded centrally and such an exercise would require a manual examination of an inordinate number of individual records which is not possible given the current pressure on staff resources.

The Deputy may also wish to know that the Self Harm Assessment and Data Analysis System records incidents of intentional overdoses in Irish Prisons, however, the data for 2022 and 2023 has not yet been collated. The Irish Prison Service recently published the 2020 and 2021 Self Harm Assessment and Data Analysis on their website, at www.irishprisons.ie. The delay in publishing these reports is due the Covid-19 pandemic. It is expected that the data for 2022 and 2023 will be published in early 2025.

I can further advise the Deputy that a new centralised data collection system is now in place to record all overdose incidences. In addition, the Irish Prison Service has recently recruited a number of Research Assistants and are in the in process of recruiting a Research Manager. These additional resources will help collate important data on intentional and accidental overdoses in prisons.

Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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130. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of nurses who work the night shift in Mountjoy Prison. [39473/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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In line with all international guidance and expectations, the core of health services in the Irish Prison Service is based on the provision of effective and responsive primary care. A fundamental component of this provision is the availability of nursing staff in all closed prisons on a 24 hour basis each day of the year. Nurses are the largest cohort of professional health providers in most healthcare settings and this is replicated in the Irish Prison Service.

People in custody have access to nurses at all times, and following an assessment Irish Prison Service Nurses commence a treatment pathway or refer individuals to the most appropriate professional colleague. Whilst specialist interventions are required in some cases, primary care nurses are often in the position to assist in the immediate symptomatic relief of a clinical presentation with swift follow up from the Prison GP or other specialist as soon as possible. The engagement pathway for addictions in the Irish Prison Service is rapid and functional and the Irish Prison Service is currently developing plans to establish an enhanced specialist clinical pathway available more rapidly in the future.

The Irish Prison Service have advised that the specific information requested by the Deputy cannot be provided for security and operational reasons.