Prison Service
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-01
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Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South

There are a lot of services there providing assessments and care planning, evidence-based interventions, including support for opioid substitution treatment, detoxification and overdose prevention and helping people to access community services on release to reduce relapse and reoffending. There is a good amount of work being done within the Prison Service. There is obviously more that needs to be done. I fully appreciate that. Merchants Quay Ireland is doing a very good job. There is a real challenge in the prisons in terms of trying to deal with people's addiction. I would love to see more resources available to ensure that people can be weaned off addictive substances while they are in prison. The truth of the matter is that there is an opportunity. We do have to use it. I do not mean this facetiously, but there is a captive audience when somebody is in prison. We can try to work on them in the hope that they will not gain access to drugs while in prison. There is a lot of good work being done in keeping drugs out of prisons.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-01/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:06+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-01