Drones flown into Laois prisons ten times already this year

There has been ten confirmed attempts to fly drones into prisons in Laois in the first four months of 2025.

Criminals are using drones to fly drugs and other contraband into prisons across the country and in Portlaoise. 

The Midlands Prison and the high security Portlaoise Prison have both been subjected to attempted drone deliveries in recent years. 

The problem is so severe that Portlaoise Prison is trialling a new type of yard covering which is designed to prevent drone drug deliveries. 

The Irish Prison Service previously revealed that criminals are placing drugs and other contraband in balls which would be dowsed in liquid,  set alight and dropped from drones onto prison netting. The balls then burn through the net and drop into the prison yard. In order to counteract these deliveries, a metal mesh cover is being tested in Portlaoise Prison. 

Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon recently asked Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan about the illegal use of drones at prisons in a recent Parliamentary Question. 

Deputy Gannon asked the Minister for Justice the number of confirmed drone related contraband drops detected in each prison in 2023 and to date in 2025; and the measures being taken to counter drone incursions.

In response, Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan said, “I am aware that the flow of contraband is one of the most pressing issues affecting security and safety in our prisons. Preventing the access of contraband, including drugs, into prisons is a high priority for the Irish Prison Service, and the Service has committed to continuing to invest in new technologies and measures to support efforts to keep contraband out of prisons.”

“An Garda Síochána also supports the Irish Prison Service with ongoing operations in each relevant Garda Division, including Operation Throwover, which is intended to disrupt, interdict and prosecute attempts to introduce contraband into prisons,” he said. 

Minister O’Callaghan said the Irish Prison Service and An Garda Síochána signed a Memorandum of Understanding to formalise a framework for interagency cooperation. The Memorandum of Understanding was developed to enable the two organisations to work in partnership to prioritise cooperation in tackling organised crime, drug dealing and contraband smuggling.

“€5m has been allocated in the 2025 Capital budget for prison security. In 2024, enhanced measures were introduced in Portlaoise Prison as part of measures to counteract contraband and drone activity,” he added. 

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“The Irish Prison Service has also commenced works on enhancing yard security in additional prisons with the installation of new netting capable of withstanding fire-bombing. This new netting has already been installed in one prison and is due to be rolled out to other locations in the short term,” said Minister O’Callaghan.