Watchdog calls for increased efforts to stop drugs getting into prisons following inmate's death

In a report into the death of the 34-year-old remand prisoner on August 12, 2021, the prisons inspector noted the governor of Cloverhill acknowledged it was the second death in the prison that year in which contraband appeared to have been a factor. Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The State’s prison watchdog has repeated its call on the Irish Prison Service (IPS) to intensify efforts to physically prevent contraband from entering the country’s prisons following another suspected death of a prisoner who had consumed illicit substances.

The Office of the Inspector of Prisons (OIP) recommended the IPS should also intensify its interactions with gardaí to develop a multi-agency written strategy to tackle the problem of drugs and other prohibited materials getting into prisons.