Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North-Central, Fianna Fail)
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805. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the steps being taken to ensure an adequate complement of healthcare staff at Cork Prison following the recent Annual Report of the office of the Inspector of Prisons which stated there is a need to increase the GP hours on site; if there are plans to recruit additional nursing staff; if there are plans to strengthen psychology and addiction services for prisoners; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63734/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I would like to assure the Deputy that the Irish Prison Service Action Plan in respect of Cork Prison outlines the plans for implementation of accepted recommendations from the 2023 General Inspection of Cork Prison, and is currently being finalised. Additionally, the GP at Cork Prison is no longer attending Castlerea Prison, as recommended by the OIP.

Healthcare staffing within a prison setting remains challenging with current capacity levels. I would like to assure the Deputy that continuous reviews of staffing levels are conducted by the Irish Prison Service in conjunction with appropriate stakeholders.

The provision of healthcare services is a statutory obligation of the IPS as defined in the Prison Rules 2007.

To support rehabilitation, reduce reoffending and assist with reintegration into society, people in custody have access to a growing range of medical and rehabilitative services. These include methadone substitution treatment, counselling, psychological intervention, peer to peer support programmes, psycho-education and the Treatment and Rehabilitation Programme provided by Merchants Quay Ireland, available in the Medical Unit in Mountjoy Prison.

Treatment provided to people in prison who may be struggling with addiction is in line with the provisions of the following: National Drug Strategy; the IPS Drugs Strategy 2023-2026; the IPS Health Needs Assessment and the High Level Task Force (HLTF) on the mental health and addiction challenges of persons interacting with the criminal justice system.

The IPS also works closely with Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous who provide support to people in custody across the prison estate. Interventions that support prisoners to address addiction and rehabilitation require engagement and action, including follow up access to services on release, which is supported by cross-departmental and cross-agency strategies.

My Department is committed to implementing a range of policies to achieve this. The Programme for Government 2025 commits to establishing a high-dependency unit in the prison estate to address severe mental health and addiction challenges and to hiring more therapeutic and medical staff, including psychiatric nurses.

Additionally, the IPS Health Needs Assessment makes recommendations around strengthening and improving healthcare services within prisons.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North-Central, Fianna Fail)
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806. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the way in which he plans to progress the recommendations of the annual report of the Office of the Inspector of Prisons particularly in relation to Cork prison; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63735/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the publication of the Office of the Inspector of Prisons 2024 Annual Report and acknowledge the important work undertaken by the Inspector and his team in 2024. Oversight and evaluation are vital elements in developing and improving our penal system.

I acknowledge the Deputy has requested my Department's response to recommendations with a particular focus on Cork prison. However, as the recommendations relate to resource concerns about prison resources nationally, my response will focus on plans to address these issues across Irish prisons.

Budget 2026 saw a record capital investment of €67.9 million as part of a total investment of €527 million from 2026 to 2030. €495 million will be invested in building projects to deliver on a plan to build 1595 prison spaces by 2031. This will include a new prison on the site of the old Cork prison, a new block in Wheatfield, an additional block extension at Midlands prison, and additional spaces at Castlerea, Mountjoy, Cloverhill, Portlaoise, Limerick and Dóchas. It will also fund planning and commencement of construction of a new prison at Thornton in North County Dublin.

I would like to assure the Deputy that the Government remains committed to reducing violence and assaults in prisons through increased recruitment, aiming to recruit 300 prison officers this year. An additional investment of €15.7 million will allow for the recruitment of up to 100 additional Prison Officers and up to 50 additional staff on a phased basis.

The IPS has a robust, internal review mechanism which assesses the circumstances of each prisoner death and actions taken in relation to it, and outlines lessons learned.

The Irish Prison Service has committed to continuing to invest in new technologies and measures to support efforts to keep contraband out of prisons. Operation Sagittarius and Operation Throwover are two joint operations being co-ordinated by An Garda Síochána and IPS to combat contraband entering prisons.

Healthcare staffing provision within prison settings remains challenging. The Programme for Government commits to establishing a high-dependency unit in the prison estate to address severe mental health and addiction challenges and to hiring more therapeutic and medical staff, including psychiatric nurses.

I am committed to progressing commitments in the Programme for Government related to the expanded use of community sanctions to provide alternatives to custodial sanctions. This commitment is demonstrated by Budget 2026, which increased funding for the Probation Service by just over 11%, to allow for increases in use of supervised community sanctions in the criminal courts as an alternative to custodial sentences were appropriate.

My Department is progressing the General Scheme of Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025 which incorporates legislative amendments regarding increasing the amount of community service hours that can be imposed and making it mandatory including for the judiciary to consider community service when considering a custodial sentence of up to 2 years or less. It is anticipated that the Bill will be published by Q4 2025.

The Programme for Government also commits to implement electronic tagging for appropriate categories of prisoner. Work is underway to operationalise electronic monitoring in line with existing legislative provisions. It is intended to go to tender for an electronic monitoring service provider this year.