Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 61: To ask the Minister for Justice and Law Reform the number of dogs now in the Irish Prison Service dog unit; the number of staff involved in this unit; the cost per annum of this unit; if such costs are included in the average costs given now in annual reports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46626/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that the Canine Unit of the Irish Prison Service currently has 26 dog handlers with a complement of 37 trained dogs.

The Irish Prison Service does not collate costs for the Canine Unit separately. To provide such figures to the Deputy would require the manual examination of records. Such an examination however would require a disproportionate and inordinate amount of staff time and effort which could not be justified in current circumstances where there are other significant demands on resources.

For Annual Report purposes, all costs associated with the Canine Unit are reallocated under each of the various prison types when calculating the cost per available staffed prison space.