Prison Service vows to do more to fight contraband

The Prison Service has admitted it needs to do more to tackle the flow of contraband into jails after another rise in the seizures of phones, drugs and weapons.

Figures provided to the Irish Examiner show 2,447 contraband items were seized in prisons last year, compared with 1,798 in 2016.

Drugs were seized on 1,018 occasions, the highest level since 2013, while 872 phones were found, the highest number since 2012.