The governor of Mountjoy Prison has said he is "sick and tired" of research studies being carried out which are then promptly forgotten about and left to gather dust. Eithne Donnellan, Health Correspondent, reports.
Mr John Lonergan said such studies "take somebody out of a hole for a while" but they never seem to precipitate change or influence policy.
Citing a number of examples, he said studies had been done on the extent of psychiatric illness, drug abuse and hepatitis C among prisoners which made recommendations for changes that never happened.
"Many of these reports are costing huge amounts to produce.
"Unless this knowledge is used, it's a waste of time.
"There is no use being armed with this information if we do not respond when planning further developments," he said.
"Research must not be undertaken out of curiosity; it must be meaningful and it must inform, underpin and influence policies, but in my experience it seldom does," he added.
Furthermore, he said the publication of the Health Research Board report yesterday which identified the fact that heroin use was now "gripping the whole country" was "shocking".
He predicted it would grab headlines for a day or two, but next week it would be off the agenda.
"Heroin will ruin the disadvantaged areas of these towns if the problem is not responded to immediately. We might respond to these people's pain by giving them methadone but we are not tackling the root causes.
"If we do not react now, in 10 years' time imagine the figures we are going to have," he said.
Mr Lonergan will elaborate further on his concerns when he addresses delegates attending the third Population Health Summer School in Cork next week.