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