Parliamentary Question: Drugs in Prisons

17th June 2003

386. Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of prisoners who have died from a fatal heroin overdose while in custody each year since 1992 for each prison in the State. [16418/03]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. McDowell): All deaths in custody are the subject of a Garda investigation and an inquest held in a coroner's court. The cause of death is determined by a jury on the basis of the information presented to the court. The circumstances of each death in custody are also examined by the prison authorities and the suicide awareness group in each institution. These examinations cover fully the background and circumstances of each death. Their objective is to identify, where possible, measures which might be implemented to contribute to a reduction in the risk of deaths in the future.

I attach figures for the deaths in prison custody since 1992 in the instances where the Coroner's Court verdict indicated that heroin was either the sole cause of death or a major contributing factor. Inquests by a coroner have not been held, to date, in respect of all the deaths in custody in 2003. However, where the examination by the prison authorities indicate that heroin may have been a contributing factor in the death I have included these deaths in custody in the following table.*
*Download table.