Prison service to roll out random drug tests for staff

There are concerns that prison staff who used illegal drugs could also be providing the same substance to prisoners.

About 5% of all prison staff will be subject to random tests for illegal drugs each year under a new scheme being introduced by the Irish Prison Service (IPS).

The IPS has published a tender seeking to award a contract to a company to carry out illicit substance testing across the country’s 12 adult prisons.