Bernard Durkan
Question:
539. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice the extent to which drug rehabilitation and educational classes are available throughout the prison service, with particular reference to first-time offenders; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34344/23]
View answer
It has not been possible to collate complete information as requested by the Deputy in the time allowed. I will write to the Deputy directly when the information is to hand.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51
I refer to Parliamentary Question 539 for written reply on 11th July 2023 requesting the extent to which drug rehabilitation and educational classes are available throughout the prison service, with particular reference to first-time offenders. At the time of my response the information was not readily available and I undertook to respond to you as soon as possible with the relevant information.
The Irish Prison Service provides a health care service for prisoners with addictions in a structured, safe and professional way in line with international best practice. The Irish Prison Service continues to be committed to, and involved with, the National Drugs Strategy in partnership with community colleagues and organisations.
It is the policy of the Irish Prison Service that, where a person committed to prison gives a history of opiate use and tests positive for opioids, they are offered a medically assisted, symptomatic detoxification, if clinically indicated.
Patients can, as part of the assessment process, discuss other treatment options with healthcare staff and those treatment options may include stabilisation on methadone maintenance for those who wish to continue on maintenance while in prison, and when they return to the community on release.
I can advise the Deputy that the Irish Prison Service engages Merchants Quay Ireland (MQI) to provide a prison-based addiction counselling service across the entire Irish Prison Service estate with the exception of Arbour Hill Prison where there is no clinical need for such a service in that prison. The addiction counselling service includes structured assessments and evidence-based counselling interventions, with clearly-defined treatment plans and goals. Drugs overdose prevention and harm reduction activities are promoted by peer education in all prisons. Their training is provided in collaboration with Merchants Quay Ireland drug counsellors.
In addition, the Irish Red Cross Community Based Health in Prisons Programme has been operating in all Irish Prisons since 2015 in partnership with the Irish Prison Service and the Education and Training Board (ETB). These programmes provides Community Based Health training to prisoners to enable them become peer-to-peer educators, there are between 5-10% of inmates working as volunteers in each prison.
The following are some of the training programmes undertaken by the Irish Red Cross volunteers;
• The production of a nalaxone video for in-cell transmission, this was produced in partnership with the Irish Prison Service, MQI and UISCE as part of the overdose prevention strategy,
• Deliver overdose prevention workshops to their peers to create awareness in the area and help prevent deaths from hazardous behaviours. Overdose prevention is also part of the Open prisons orientation programme in Loughan House and Shelton Abbey,
• For those prisoners recovering from drug addiction, peer-led Relapse Prevention workshops is provided in partnership with MQI,
• Provide information to committals on courses and supports available.
Prison Education Centres provide some QQI courses which include learning around different drugs and how they affect the person, this is normally a partial section of a course and are not considered a drug educational course. The following are run in Prison Education Centres;
• Cork Prison in collaboration with the HSE and University College Cork run an eight-week Introduction to addiction studies.
• In April 2023 the Dochas Centre provided two mornings of lectures from the Maynooth Mountjoy partnership on addiction studies.
• Portlaoise Prison provide “Substance Use Issues for Youthwork” (QQI L5) and “Addiction Awareness Programme” (in house certification) in conjunction with the addiction counsellor.
While the training programmes and education are not necessarily targeted at first time offenders they would include this cohort.
I trust this explains the situation.
