20 October 2005 

Justice

 Mandatory Drug Testing in Prisons

Ciarán Cuffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if the Irish Prison Service will provide access to other confirmatory testing for prisoners whose initial mandatory drug test is found positive for illegal drugs, in view of the fact that false positive test results are known to be potentially triggered by legal prescription medications, including HIV medications, if not the reason therefor, and if he will make a statement on the matter.  

Minister For Justice, Equality and Law Reform:  

I am aware of the potential for positive test results in the context of mandatory drug testing arising from consumption of prescribed medication.  I can assure the Deputy that the new scheme which the Irish Prison Service will put in place will have appropriate provisions to deal with this.  

I might add that there are pre-existing procedures to deal with circumstances in which a positive drug test is attributed by a prisoner to a legitimately prescribed and consumed medication.  These involve examination of whether there is a basis for such attribution, including consultation with the relevant prescriber as to whether any medication prescribed for the prisoner could be responsible for the positive result.  It is not current practice to require the prisoner to undergo further tests in such circumstances.