Irish prisons have no addiction nurses despite thousands of inmates needing support

Irish prisons have no addiction nurses despite an estimated 4,000 inmates with addiction issues, prompting calls for urgent action. File picture: Dan Linehan

There are no addiction nurses employed by the Irish Prison Service (IPS) despite an estimated 4,000 prisoners suffering from addiction issues, the Irish Examiner has learned.

Reports have repeatedly called for the employment of addiction nurses as a vital component in the healthcare system within prisons. 

Until 10 years ago, nurses in this discipline were retained within the system, but after some left and others diverted into other areas of nursing, they were never replaced.

Irish Penal Reform Trust executive director Saoirse Brady said the failure to employ such trained personnel leaves a major gap in the service required.

“The collapse in addiction nursing capacity in our prisons, from several posts a decade ago to effectively none today is not a minor staffing gap,” she said.

“It is a profound failure to provide even the most basic clinical care to people with serious health needs.” 

In 2024, the Crowe report into the healthcare needs in prisons, which had taken 18 months to compile, recommended that specialist nurses be urgently employed.

It recommended that as part of a review of the workforce within prisons “it is strongly advised that consultation is completed to address the issues associated with the formation of specialist nursing resources in the majority of closed prisons".

A spokesperson for the Irish Prison Service said that while historically six addiction nurses were employed by the service, they had all either left or moved into other roles by 2016.

“Whilst the Irish Prison Service does not currently employ dedicated full-time addiction nurses, the prison primary care team, including GPs and nurses, addiction counsellors and psychologists ensure that the key functions highlighted above are managed effectively for those in need.”