A local councillor says family members of people serving sentences in Cork Prison are being blackmailed.
The family members are being forced to try and get drugs into the prison and have run up debt with criminal gangs.
The Irish Prison Service says it conducts regular checks of prison cells on a daily basis and is committed to stopping access to contraband.
Speaking to RedFM News, Councillor Ken O'Flynn says some families say they have attempted to throw drugs over the wall to get them into Cork Prison:
"They're under severe pressure from their family member who was in the prison to either bring in drugs or get drugs in some sort of way. I've had families telling me that there's debts run up and that they're trying to pay off criminal gangs for intimidating them, telling them that their loved one will be beaten or badly are badly treated in the prison system."
