DUBLIN, Ireland: Inmates at the female Dóchas prison in Dublin will be provided with hair-dressing skills over the next four years, at an estimated cost of 480,000 euros to the Irish Prison Service (IPS).

A tender issued on March 13 revealed that the IPS aims to provide trainees with the requisite skills through the course and to develop their personal and job-seeking skills, enabling them to obtain employment in hairdressing salons after their release from prison.

The course provider must teach several modules, including salon support services, shampooing and conditioning, curling and finger waving, blow-drying, hair setting and styling, colour treatments, and lessons on career planning and job-seeking skills.

The training must lead to a Certificate in Hairdressing accredited at City & Guilds Entry Level 1 or an equivalent qualification.

According to the tender documents, the provider must run four full-time courses each year of the contract. Each course will last 10 weeks.

Every course can have a maximum of seven participants. At least 28 prisoners must receive both classroom and practical training each year during the contract.

The tender comes at a time when there is ongoing overcrowding at the women's Dóchas Centre on the Mountjoy Prison campus.

Statistics from the Irish Prison Service for March 13 show there were 335 female prisoners in the system at the Dóchas Centre, including those temporarily released.

The prison has space for 146 beds, meaning it is currently operating at about 149 percent of its capacity.

The tender says the main goal of the training is to help prisoners identify and develop basic skills so they can gain confidence and improve their technical and professional abilities in hairdressing.

It also states that the Irish Prison Service strongly supports vocational training for prisoners and aims to ensure people in custody have access to useful and constructive learning opportunities.

The document adds that such training helps prisoners gain skills that can help them find jobs after their release and improve their chances of rehabilitation.

Anyone applying to run the course must have at least four years of commercial hairdressing experience and be skilled in a wide range of hairdressing techniques.

The Irish Prison Service will provide all the materials needed for the course. The deadline to submit tenders is April 16.