Parliamentary Question: Drug Treatment Services

23rd November 2004

361. Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the position regarding compulsory drugs testing of prisoners; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29663/04]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. McDowell): As envisaged in the programme for Government, the introduction of mandatory drug testing will be central to supporting future policy on drug supply and demand reduction in prisons. Already prisoners accommodated in the open centres at Shelton Abbey and Loughan House and in the designated drug-free areas of the training unit in the Mountjoy complex, St. Patrick's institution and Wheatfield Prison are required to undergo frequent drug tests to confirm their drug-free status.

Mandatory drug testing will, however, operate across the prison system. Crucially, it will, for the first time, provide firm information on the prevalence and nature of drug abuse in the prison system. It will disclose trends in drug misuse, enable identification and referral of drug abusers to treatment programmes, enable enhanced focusing of resources and act as a deterrent to drug misuse. Without this basic information, planning for treatment can never be as focused as it should be and resources can never be effectively targeted. The introduction of mandatory drug testing will allow the Irish Prison Service to deploy its resources in the most rational and productive manner. The new prison rules, which are at an advanced stage of preparation, will include specific provision for mandatory drug testing.