Measures aimed at reducing drug consumption in Irish jails are having little impact, writes Conor Lally, Crime Correspondent
Last October new prison rules were introduced by the Minister for Justice, Brian Lenihan. The rules provided for random drug testing of any prison inmate.
The testing is one of the central elements of the Government's drug-free prison policy, first announced in the programme for government in 2002.
It is envisaged that about 10 per cent of the 3,200 prison population will be tested for drugs every year.
Those who pass will be given small rewards such as dietary enhancements. Inmates testing positive will lose privileges including periods of remission and visits.
The impact of the random testing system will only become clear over time. However, the figures published for the first time in The Irish Times today prove that drug testing which has been in place for years has not proven a deterrent.
Before random testing was introduced some categories of inmate could be screened for drugs. These included those ordered by a court to be tested or prisoners taking part in rehabilitation or methadone programmes. Inmates in open centres could be tested, as could any other inmate for a defined management/ operational reason.
Just over 100,000 tests have been carried out in the last year. The figures reveal some 40,000 of these were positive for drugs.
That cannabis, opiates, cocaine, amphetamines and alcohol are available across the system is hardly surprising. The problem has been well documented in prison visiting committee reports and inspection reports in recent years.
However, the level of drug consumption, with 75 per cent of prisoners testing positive for drugs in Mountjoy Prison in Dublin, is surprising. Worryingly for the Irish Prison Service and the Government, the detection rate has not fallen since 2005.
This is despite the introduction of a programme of measures since then aimed at reducing the availability of drugs ahead of the introduction of random testing.
Nets have been erected over exercise yards in an effort to prevent contraband being thrown in from outside perimeter walls. Gardaí have also mounted surveillance operations outside jails to deter the practice.
Visitor restrictions are in place with only pre-approved people allowed entry. Prisoners with a drug history are not allowed any physical contact with their visitors and only see them through a screen of glass.
Sniffer dog teams have been put in place to search everybody - staff and members of the public - as they enter prisons.
The prison service has also acquired a new X-ray chair which can detect if a new committal has drugs concealed internally. A new prisons operational support group was established to gather intelligence on the source of contraband and to recover any smuggled items. Gardaí are also searching in jails. A small number of prison officers are under Garda investigation on suspicion of supplying items to inmates.
However, today's data reveals the availability of drugs across the prison system has not been adversely affected by the recent measures. The results must make depressing reading for Mr Lenihan and senior management within the Irish Prison Service.
The data certainly underlines the extent of the challenge ahead in trying to rid the prison system of drugs.
PRISON ROUNDS: tests reveal drug use among inmates is highest in Mountjoy
Mountjoy Prison (main), Dublin
Some 3,497 tests were carried out in the first nine months of last year. The results revealed inmates are consuming considerably more drugs than in any other prison. There were 2,003 positive tests for opiates, representing 57 per cent of all tests carried out. Some 51 per cent (1,781 cases) tested positive for cannabis, with 51 per cent (1,768 cases) testing positive for benzodiazepines. There were 29 positives for amphetamine, 71 for cocaine and 22 for alcohol.
The number of tests carried out has fallen very significantly since 2005 despite the Government's drug-free prisons policy. In 2005 some 13,304 tests were carried out. On that occasion there were 10,084 positive results for cannabis, or 76 per cent of all tests carried out.
Mountjoy Female Prison
Some 2,284 tests were carried out in the first nine months of last year, with one in three, or 775, tests showing signs of cannabis consumption. The highest rate of positives was for benzodiazepines, which showed up in 1,134 tests, 53 per cent of all tests.
Some 1,057 were positive for opiates, 247 for cocaine, 73 for alcohol and 27 for amphetamines.
Cloverhill Prison, Dublin
Some 3,109 tests were carried out in the first nine months of last year, with 783 positives for cannabis, 1,134 for benzodiazepines, 1,057 for opiates, 73 for alcohol, 247 for cocaine and 27 for amphetamines.
Cloverhill is a remand prison and has a much higher turnover of inmates than other jails. Because of this, and unlike other jails, it is likely that many positive tests are attributable to drugs consumed in the days before committal.
Loughan House Detention Centre, Co Cavan
Some 392 tests were carried out at the minimum security facility to the end of September last year.
Of these, 32 per cent were positive for cannabis, two per cent for cocaine, four per cent for opiates and two per cent for alcohol.
Limerick Prison
There were 500 tests carried out in the first nine months of last year. Of these 37 per cent were positive for cannabis, 45 per cent positive for opiates and 43 per cent for benzodiazepines.
Portlaoise Prison
Of the 20 tests carried out to the end of September last year three tested positive for cannabis, four for benzodiazepines and one for alcohol. The number of tests carried out has fallen since 2005 despite the Government's new drugs-free prison policy. In 2005 86 tests were carried out, with 23 positives for cannabis, 11 for opiates, six for alcohol and one for amphetamines and cocaine.
Shelton Abbey Detention Centre, Co Wicklow
Of the 367 tests carried out to the end of September last year, 96 were positive for cannabis, 19 for cocaine, 21 for opiates, 12 for alcohol, 10 for amphetamines and 45 for benzodiazepines. The number of positive tests at the facility has fallen in recent years. For example, the number of positives for cannabis was as high as 165 and 224 cases in 2006 and 2005 respectively.
St Patrick's Institution for Young Offenders, Dublin
Some 3,298 tests were carried out in the first nine months of last year. The positive test rate was among the lowest across the prison system with inmates clearly not as skilled as older prisoners in sourcing drugs.
Some 245 tests, 7 per cent of those carried out, were positive for cannabis. There were 17 positives for amphetamines, 165 for benzodiazepines, 12 for cocaine, 82 for opiates and 14 for alcohol.
Wheatfield Prison, Dublin
Of the 4,224 tests carried out in the first nine months of last year 2,076, or 49 per cent, were positive for cannabis. Some 1,842 were positive for opiates, 1,531 for benzodiazepines, 35 for amphetamines, 51 for cocaine and 31 for alcohol.