Parliamentary Question: Prison Drug Treatment Services

5th December 2002

174. Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when he will be implementing the recommendation of the 1999 Department of Community Health and General Practice at Trinity College report, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV in Irish Prisons: Prevalence and Risk, which called for introduction of a strictly controlled supply of clean needles and syringes to those prisoners who will continue to inject opiates in the interests of disease prevention; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25316/02]

175. Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when he will implement the recommendation of the 1999 Department of Community Health and General Practice at Trinity College report, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV in Irish prisons: Prevalence and Risk, which called for free distribution of condoms to prisoners in the interests of disease prevention; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25317/02]

176. Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when he will implement recommendation 33 of the September 2001 report of the group to review the structure and organisation of prison health care services, which called for the introduction of disinfectant tablets into the prison system without further delay, in order to limit the spread of communicable diseases, including HIV; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25318/02]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Michael McDowell: I propose to take Questions Nos. 174 to 176, inclusive, together.

It is both my policy and that of the Irish Prison Service, in common with most prison systems worldwide, not to issue needles or injecting equipment to prisoners. Emphasis within prisons is on health education and appropriate substitution treatment, etc., where required. Prisoner health education discourages injecting behaviour but also points out the health benefits of not sharing needles and injecting equipment. The report of the Group to Review the Structure and Organisation of Prison Health Care Services considered the matter of developing a syringe exchange programme within Irish prisons and came to the conclusion that, on the basis of potential risk to staff, such a step could not be recommended.

In relation to the distribution of disinfectant tablets, prison management have proposals to facilitate the provision of such tablets, initially within Mountjoy Prison, as an aid to hygiene and cleanliness. This would not condone the possession of contraband items by prisoners and staff will continue to take all possible steps to detect and confiscate any such items. These tablets are widely available in prison systems throughout Europe and have presented few practical difficulties. This has been the subject of discussion between the Irish Prisons Service and the Prison Officers' Association, regarding certain staff concerns, in which the Director General of the Irish Prisons Service continues to play a direct role, with the objective of resolving any difficulties which stand in the way of the introduction of the tablets.

While the free availability of condoms within a prison has certain health implications, there are a wider range of considerations which would have to be taken into account before contemplating the issue of condoms to serving prisoners. To date, I am not aware that there has been any demand by prisoners to have access to condoms. The matter is, however, being kept under on-going review.