THE Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, has formally opened a drug treatment unit at Mountjoy Prison after agreeing to recruit extra prison officers to staff it.
It is the first such facility to be opened in one of the State's prisons. The opening had been delayed for a week by an argument over whether it would be staffed by suitably qualified prison officers or by nurses from an outside agency, as the Department had planned.
A compromise has been reached under which agency nurses will be used until new officers are recruited, the Department said yesterday. The details of the recruitment had yet to be discussed with the Prison Officers' Association.
A Department spokesperson said extra qualified staff were needed because only four were employed at the prison, and they would not be able to provide the 24 hour cover needed in the unit.
The facility will initially treat six prisoners. The Minister said this would be "increased gradually over the coming months".
She said the unit had been modelled on hospital units and would provide "humane detoxificat ion, tailored to meet individual needs". Methadone (the heroin substitute), would be available as would therapy programmes and counselling which would involve prisoners' relatives.
Other measures included "the recruitment of a general practitioner, experienced in this field, who will attend the unit daily" and a consultant psychiatric service. Urine tests are to be carried out by the Drug Treatment Centre Board with results transmitted to the unit by computer.