Daily drone deliveries to criminals in Laois and other prisons

Prison Officers are finding drugs, phones, alcohol, and weapons being smuggled into jails in Laois and other parts of Ireland on an unprecedented daily basis, according to one of their representatives.

The activities of criminals at jails in Portlaoise and elsewhere was outlined at the Prison Officers Association Annual Delegate Conference in Galway by General Secretary Karl Dalton.

“The level of contraband in our prisons is at unprecedented levels, to the extent that prisoners are now storing drugs and phones, such is the level of contraband already in circulation. Drone incursions into our prisons are, at the very least, a daily occurrence.

“The current netting that covers a lot of our prison yards is not sufficient, it has failed. These nets have been burnt through by firebombs dropped by the drones; in some cases, they have collapsed under the weight of snow leaving some prisons without exercise yards for prisoners. Drones are so sophisticated nowadays that the only way to stop the steady flow of contraband into our prisons is to stop the drones from flying past the perimeter wall of a prison in the first place. Prison officers are simply not able to intervene to what is essentially an external threat,” he said.

The conference heard that in 2019, a Prison Service spokesperson, as quoted in the Irish Times newspaper, said that the Irish Prison Service is exploring a number of technology options to deal with the problem but the problem has worsened.

Mr Dalton addressed the Minister for Justice, Jim O'Callaghan who attended.

“The danger created by these incidents for Prison Officers is unquantifiable. Officers are putting their own health and safety at risk to retrieve this contraband on a daily basis. Minister, I am not here to sensationalise this issue but if drugs, phones, alcohol, and even weapons(knives) can be sent in by drone then what’s to stop them sending in firearms? What is it going to take to ensure that the Department of Justice takes some sort of meaningful action to address this most serious issue. If it takes a legislative change and a review of interventions in other jurisdictions Minister, then it is your departments responsibility to make that change, irrespective of cost.

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“It is difficult enough to manage a significant number of our prisoners in the first place, but when we then introduce a “drug fuelled” environment both the occupants and staff are at greater risk. We not alone have the effects of the drugs to deal with but also the strong-arm tactics that inevitably emerge in such a drug filled environment. Let’s face it, if prisoners friends and family can acquire the technology to deliver contraband by drone with pinpoint accuracy and timing surely the state can acquire the technology to counter this,” he said.

The Minister for Justice said the Gardaí have reached a new agreement with the Irish Prison Service to tackle contraband.