847. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the number of drug seizures in the past five years, by institution, within the Irish Prison Service system; the total value, by institution, by year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48362/23]

Helen McEntee: Minister for Justice: I can advise the Deputy that preventing the incursion of contraband items into prisons remains a major challenge. Irish Prison Service staff work tirelessly to take steps to reduce the flow of illicit substances into our prisons. Security measures to deter the introduction of dangerous contraband into prisons include: the installation of nets over exercise yards, vigilant observation of prisoners by staff, enhanced CCTV monitoring, strict control of visits, drug-swabbing equipment similar to airport-style explosives swabbing devices, random and targeted searches and joint operations with An Garda Síochána.

The Irish Prison Service continues to research and develop opportunities to install new security equipment and new security measures. Intelligence-led searching and detection practice means that a significant amount of drugs are detected and intercepted before reaching the prison population.

It must be recognised that the prison environment mirrors the same range of activity and challenges arising in many communities grappling with the scourge of harmful drug use. In order to meaningfully tackle the issue of drug-use and demand in prisons, the Irish Prison Service must work in partnership with all agencies across the criminal justice sector, additional support agencies active in Irish prisons, and relevant community-based organisations to reduce the demand. The Irish Prison Service aims to publish a new Drug Strategy by the end of 2023 setting out a series of goals to advance work towards reducing the harm of substances of abuse in the prison environment.

The Irish Prison Service seeks to confront the issue of drugs in prisons with the following interactive components to its approach:

Inform & Educate

The Irish Prison Service will seek to broaden information and education to all people interacting with, and living and working within our prisons to increase awareness of the devastating effects of bringing drugs into prisons.

Detect & Reduce

The Irish Prison Service will work to further develop security measures to enhance the detection and prevention of smuggling of drugs into prisons and to improve retrieval rates of drugs that make their way into the prison.

Support & Treat

The Irish Prison Service will continue to grow and improve medical and therapeutic interventions and services for people in prison living with addiction. In doing so, the Irish Prison Service will recognise the overlapping presentations of addiction and mental health conditions and pursue an integrated approach to protect and maintain good health.

I am advised by the Irish Prison Service that, the information requested in respect of the number of drug seizures is not readily available but that officials in the Irish Prison Service will work to compile this table and send it directly to the Deputy in due course.

I am further advised that the Irish Prison Service does not collate statistics on the value of drug finds, as the Irish Prison Service does not have the facility to test for quantity or substance type, and any suspected drug seizure is passed to An Garda Síochána for examination.