NEW PRISON clothing with no pockets should be introduced to prevent drugs being smuggled into jails, said Fine Gael justice spokesman Charlie Flanagan.
He also called for screens to be put in place between prisoners and visitors in certain cases, along with airport-type security with radar detectors and sniffer dogs.
However, Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan said the dogs "are on the way and the handlers are being trained". Mr Lenihan reiterated in the Dáil that airport-type security was being put in place.
There were tighter control prison visits in all closed prisons, greater use of screened visits, increased random searching of cells and their occupants and the "use of modern cameras and probe systems which assist in searching previously difficult areas such as hollow chairs or bed legs, under floor boards and other cavities, use of phone detectors and phased installation of telephone blocking technology".
Mr Flanagan claimed Government policy to combat drugs in prisons had been a "complete failure" following statistics which showed prisoners had tested positive for drugs 40,000 times in the past three years. Prisoners had greater drug problems leaving prison than when they went in.
"It is entirely unsatisfactory that prisoners engaged in detoxification are not segregated from those who are freely taking drugs. This is part of the problem. There is an entire drugs underworld in our prisons that is not being dealt with in an adequate manner."
Mr Lenihan said the design and urban setting of the some of the State's older prisons, such as Mountjoy, "does not assist in combating the inflow of drugs", but the proposed prison at Thornton Hall in Co Dublin would address this issue and would have separate facilities for those addicted to drugs and alcohol so "they can have a real opportunity to kick the habit while they are incarcerated".
