Over 800 prisoners were on waiting lists for addiction services at the end of last year, new figures show.
As Justice Minister Helen McEntee confirmed that prisoners wait an average of 12 weeks to access services, Sinn Féin’s spokesman for mental health Mark Ward warned that people who do not get proper care are more likely to reoffend when they leave prison.
Minister McEntee confirmed that when a person committed to prison gives a history of opiate use and tests positive for opioids, they are offered a medically assisted, symptomatic detoxification if clinically indicated.
