Huge spend of public's money on prison dogs for Laois jails

The Irish Prison Service (IPS) has plans to invest an estimated €600,000 of the public's money in new dogs for jails in Portlaoise and elsewhere.

The service has invited bids for scent detection and special purpose dogs to help Prison Officers guard criminals jailed in Laois and elsewhere. It says the dogs will be in service in Portlaoise Prison, the Midlands Prison and 11 other jails in Ireland, either to work or for training. Supplied dogs will enter the IPS training program and will be accepted onto courses either green or part-trained.

The dogs must be trained to handler level, be in good health certified by a veterinarian, and the supplier must follow all Irish and EU regulations for the supply of Detections Dogs.

The IPS tender documents seen by the Leinster Express / Laois Live give some context for the investment.

"Prison dogs are a huge asset to the Prison Service. Dogs have been used to detect various types of contraband in the IPS since 2008.

"Scent detection canines will search persons and areas while general purpose dogs will be scent capable and carry out a wide
variety of prison functions," said the general tender description.

The tender specifies three breeds: Belgian Shepherds (Malinois), Labrador and Spaniels. MORE BELOW PICTURE.

The services says the Belgian Malinois will serve as general-purpose canines. They must aged 12 to 24 months be of a bold, confident and forward disposition, no nerve and civil.

The IPS wants these dogs to be social with other dogs, family and children but can be aggressive thereafter. The dog must be environmentally stable and tolerant of the stressors associated with the prison setting.

Supplied Malinois should have a level of obedience and handler protection training as a minimum but should be suitable candidates for further training within the prison setting.

The estimated spend is €300,000 on this breed over the lifetime of the contract.

The Labrador, or other such breed of suitable size and temperament, must be aged 12 to 18 months and be of a confident disposition, not nervy and not overly submissive.

They must be social with humans and approach them voluntarily without issue as well as being social with other dogs while tolerant of the usual stressors associated with the prison setting.

They will serve as single-purpose detection dogs with an estimated €200,000 expected to be spent during the contract. MORE BELOW PICTURE.

The special purpose canine breed will be a Springer Spaniel, or other such breed of suitable size and temperament.
Aged 12 to 18 months, such dogs must also be confident, not nervy nor overly submissive. They must also be social with humans and approach them voluntarily without issue.

The cost of the special purposes dogs will be €100,000 over the lifetime of the contract.

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The tender documents published on etenders.ie say the IPS estimates that the aggregate expenditure may amount to some €600,000 over a maximum of four years. It adds that tenderers should note that there is no guaranteed level of expenditure under this agreement by the IPS and the Service is under no obligation to purchase a minimum value of dogs under the framework agreement.

The tender will remain open for bids in April 7.