8. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration his views on the fact that there are currently no dedicated addiction nurses working in Irish prisons despite his Department estimating that seven in ten people committed to prison have addiction issues; and when he expects specialist addiction services to commence in prisons. [49882/26]

Sentiment score: 0.15

I commend the Minister on his visit to the Alfie Byrne Road on Friday. It was a source of great annoyance to me that he left such a great impression on the lads down there, so well done to him on that.

Sentiment score: 0.66

Back to the fighting. I want to speak to him about our prison services and the fact that we do not have any specialist dedicated addiction nurses within the Prison Service, despite over 70% of the prison population having addiction needs.

Sentiment score: -0.56

I hope he declared it.

Sentiment score: 0.44

Brilliant.

Sentiment score: 0.59

I am correct in saying that the programme for Government includes a commitment to recruit addiction nurses. The last addiction nurses left in 2016. We have a problem in our prisons. People are going in there with addictions. Over 70% of the prison population, or 4,000 people, entered prison with some form of addiction. The Minister knows our recidivism rates. Almost exactly seven out of ten people who go into prison will reoffend within three years. A large part of that is precisely because the addictions with which they went into prison are being compounded, in many instances, and there are certainly no recovery options. I do not doubt for a second that Merchants Quay Ireland is doing good work within our prisons, but its representatives have also said continuously that, actually, the supports available are not commensurate with the needs they are meeting while they are in there. There are also any number of reports that call for specialist addiction nurses going in, which are different from general practice nurses because the skill level is different. Comprehensive addiction assessments, and management of withdrawal and medication, can be offered by an addiction nurse. All of these are specialist skills.

Sentiment score: -0.06

The Minister might want to check the programme for Government in terms of the plans in relation to that, but okay. We have a profound problem when it comes to our prisons. I do not doubt for a second that there are some success stories, but that is by no means the norm. That is actually a failure of opportunity because we talk about the people going into prison for absolute reasons, but while they are there, there is an opportunity to ensure that when they come out, they do not continue the hurt that led them there in the first place. That does require intensive treatments for addiction. At the moment in our prisons, clearly, that is not being met. I do not doubt the work the Minister mentioned by Merchants Quay Ireland. However, that is the moment of intervention when we can actually prevent the follow-on hurt that is coming from a recidivism rate that is extraordinarily high because the addictions are not being dealt with in there. I can reference any number of reports that talk about the need for addiction specialist nurses, the most recent being the Crowe report on prison healthcare in 2022. We need to reflect on the absence of those specific specialists in our prisons.

Sentiment score: 0.05

20. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration his views on the prevalence of childhood exploitation into crime; and his plans to address this issue. [49884/26]

Sentiment score: -0.01

It is appropriate that we move on from discussing the successes of CAB and the evolution of how we target the drugs gangs. That has consequences in terms of how the gangs have tried to innovate. One callous activity they have engaged in is the coercion of children into crime. I do not believe eight- and nine-year-olds were being used as drug smugglers 30 years ago. Today, the prevalence of that is substantial. I want to talk about the coercion of children into crime.

Sentiment score: 0.04

I can hear the Minister of State's passion for this area. The problem is that in 2017 or 2018 the Greentown project, in its first national survey, found that at any one time over 1,000 children in the State were being coerced into crime. Between 2018 and 2026, every metric has got worse. I have to assume the coercion of children into crime has got worse. The Greentown project has good outcomes but it is very small and geographically based. I would like to see a national programme that is funded, seeks to prioritise prevention and recognises that the factors that make a child vulnerable to be coerced into crime are often the conditions in which they are born, with poverty foremost among them. Even today we are talking about young people on scramblers, which is very dangerous and we need to cut it out, but a lot of those young people have been coerced into using those scramblers to sell drugs. Only 17 charges have been made so far under Fagin's law. What are we going to do to improve how we go after people who are targeting children?

Sentiment score: -0.31

The Criminal Justice (Engagement of Children in Criminal Activity) Act 2024 was welcome but there are flaws in the legislation in that it has the expectation built in that a child would be the witness to their own coercion. Too often we do not see children and young people who are being coerced into this as victims even by the very fact that we talked about the recurring offences. We separate ourselves from the fact that these children are literally being coerced into crime. Sometimes we assume it is through money or financial gain but it is often through the threat of violence to them or their parents. This is a national problem. It extends beyond urban areas into more rural parts. Much of the anecdotal evidence we have on the level of drug-related intimidation in the State involves children being used to carry out the violence. It is at a level where it has to be an extensive national priority to prevent this, to convict those who do it and to stop a network of young people being dragged into this through violence and coercion.

Sentiment score: -0.52