Prison Chaplaincy review to propose facilities for different religious at jails in Portlaoise and elsewhere

The Irish Prison Service has budgeted to spend up to €100,000 on a review of Chaplaincy services at jails in Portlaoise and other parts of Ireland which could lead to new facilities for different religious practice behind bars.

Irish Prison Service is published a tender notice ins which it says it propose to engage in a competitive procedure of the appointment of a single operator to conduct a formal review of the Chaplaincy services within the 12 facility prison service.

It wants the the review to carry out the review in two stages. Phase one involves the review of the current services and protocol relating to Chaplaincy Services within the Service.

Stage 2 will require best practice methodologies to be developed for the delivery of Chaplaincy Services. This will involve proposing facilities for practising diverse religions to be formalised 

It is envisaged that maximum spend under the four year framework agreement starting at in quarter 1 2023 will not exceed €100,000 excluding VAT but there is no guaranteed expenditure. It adds that the likely value of contracts to be awarded under the framework will be in the region of €5,000 to €40,000.

The IPS says Chaplains have a crucial supporting role in prison life by providing pastoral and spiritual care to the prison community and seeks to meet the needs of prisoners of all denominations and none. It adds chaplaincy has a significant contribution to make as part of the multi-disciplinary team in a prison, addressing the physical, social and spiritual needs of prisoners in a holistic way.

Explaining the reason for the review it says the IPS has undergone a period of significant change over the past number of years with the current strategic plan setting an ambitious agenda to enhance all aspects of prison operations.

"Given the cross cutting nature of the work of the Irish Prison Service and the commitment to enhance cooperation and co-ordination, this review is timely to make explicit the commitment to working across the services to achieve the IPS vision for a safer community through excellence in a prison service built on respect for human dignity.

"The IPS is committed to deliver the best outcomes for those committed to custody by the courts and to demonstrate how the Irish Prison Service values-led approach to professional practice brings with it the power to transform the lives of those in custody.

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"The purpose of the review is to support the Irish Prison Service in the identification of optimal chaplaincy services to support the delivery of its current and future operations," it says.

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Due to the complexity of the IPS requirement the service says it understand there may be a need for a number of different stakeholders to be involved. These include everything from prisoners, prison officers and various Christian and non-Christian religions.