To ask the Minister of Justice to outline the internal policy and legislation that facilitates emotional support animals in Northern Ireland prisons.

Mrs Long (The Minister of Justice)

The provision of emotional support animals within Northern Ireland Prison Service establishments is an operational matter for the Prison Service. It is more than 20 years since the service introduced support dogs into the prison setting, and it is not aware of a single occasion when a dog has been placed at risk. Support dogs are highly valued and well-cared-for team members and have helped countless prisoners who have been in crisis. That is the same for all support animals within prisons. Every day, prison officers perform their roles with judgement, diligence and care. I have been disappointed and surprised that others think that those same officers are not up to the job of introducing an emotional support dog at Magilligan prison. If a policy is required to satisfy the ongoing interests of all animals within prisons, I am certain that Prison Service and its staff have the measure of that task. However, that work will be appropriately prioritised among the many other challenges that face the service at this time, not least the rising prison population and the increasingly complex needs of that population. Legislative matters relating to animals are not the responsibility of my Department.

Mrs Long

I disagree entirely with the picture that has been painted by the Member when she says that the way in which the situation was dealt with by the Prison Service, originally, was wrong. What is scandalous is the whipping up of false information, misinformation and disinformation in the public domain — in social media and the wider media. The truth is that, when the dog was inspected in place, it was found to be in excellent condition, happy, well adjusted and enjoying the work that it was doing. Sadly, because of the hysteria that was whipped up outside, a threat was received regarding Bailey, and he was removed from the prison for his own safety, because, let us be clear, the welfare and safety of the animals in our care are our primary concern in all these matters.

Mr Burrows

Does the Minister not have any concern that, after 20 years of putting dogs in prisons, there is no legislation; no definition of what an emotional support dog is; no pre-suitability assessment was done of that particular dog; and there is a made-up policy of putting a pet dog in prison without any safeguards? That was confirmed to me by the director general of prisons in Northern Ireland and the prison governor at Magilligan.

Mrs Long

My greater concern is the amount of time that has been consumed by Prison Service staff in responding to an issue that was based on nothing but lies and smears. In fact, the Member himself had to admit in public that he had not even read the independent welfare report, despite tweeting consistently and persistently about the matter for, I think, over three weeks. If we want to be serious about our concern for animals, the first thing to do is to look at what the animal welfare experts said about Bailey. They said that he was a dog in excellent condition, well adjusted and well cared for. These are not working dogs in the traditional sense. The training that goes with them is for those prison officers who deploy them in certain circumstances. They are treated, for all intents and purposes, as a family pet would be treated. That is why we are able to do this. To say that there was no pre-assessment of suitability is, again, factually incorrect. There was one issue around whether the dog was well socialised with men, and that was dealt with before the dog was selected and brought to the prison. Those are further facts relating to further misinformation, and they show the further inability of some to accept a detailed and evidence-based response and to take it into account.

Ms Hunter

I am in solidarity with you, Minister, following the mob at your house, last week. We are all thinking of you. Following up on the previous questions, will the Minister confirm whether emotional support animals, particularly dogs, receive specific training before being placed in a prison? Do prison officers receive any kind of specific training regarding being assigned responsibility for caring for an animal?

Mrs Long

As I have just said, prison officers are trained in the deployment of emotional support dogs, which is pretty much like looking after any other dog in that environment. The dogs are not there for protection, for guarding or to work as sniffer dogs, where there is a particular skill engaged in training the dogs and a particular level of vigilance required of the dogs. The dogs are simply there to show companionship to prisoners. The dogs do not need specific training, but they need to have a particular temperament. They have to be good around people, and they have to be calm and assured. Bailey fitted all those categories. Sadly, now, his life has been disrupted due to a threat received from outside the prison. If anybody actually cared about dogs and their welfare, they would not want to see a happy, well-adjusted and well-cared-for dog taken out of its routine environment.