Electronic Ankle Tag by Russellin teekannu [CC-BY SA 4.0]

The contract was awarded to Allied Universal Electronic Monitoring and the project will commence this year on a 12-month pilot basis. Awarding the contract paves the way for the work needed to commence tagging by the end of this year.

The project supports the Minister’s commitment under the programme for government to implement electronic monitoring for appropriate cohorts of offenders.

Mr O’Callaghan said: “Since taking office I committed to the introduction of electronic tagging for a certain cohort of offenders and this contract brings this commitment to fruition. It is also a commitment in the programme for government which aims to alleviate pressure on prison capacity while maintaining public safety.

“Public safety is a priority and considerations such as the profile of offender, nature, type and seriousness of the offence will be evaluated when assessing suitability for electronic monitoring.

“It is used in many jurisdictions as an additional tool to support the management and monitoring of offenders. The pilot phase will have the capacity to monitor between 90 and 150 individuals over a 12-month period.”

Mr O’Callaghan secured funding of €2.1m in Budget 2026 for the project to allow for staffing, procurement, and other set up costs.

The new contract commenced on 14 August 2026 for a duration of 12 months with an option to extend for a further 12 months. The pilot programme will commence later this year and be rolled out on a phased basis.