Local Authority Testing Services
- Fastest turnaround times in Ireland
- ISO 17025 accredited and court-approved testing
- Dedicated account manager meaning one point of contact throughout the whole process
- Full guidance and recommendations on the correct testing requirements for you
- Guaranteed sample collection by a company collector within 48 hours of instruction
- Additional drug detection service: we can tell you if we find other drugs in our hair samples that have not been disclosed by the sample donor should you require this service
- Same day DNA test results available
- Instant quote: get an immediate quote with our easy-to-complete forms
- Clear, easy-to-read reports with an expert opinion of the interpretation
- Free sample collection for legally-instructed DNA, drug and alcohol tests at our Dublin walk-in centre
- No admin fees for split invoicing
“You provide a very fast and effective service we now count on daily”
Jane Parr – Social Services – London
We work with 356 local authorities
and thousands of solicitors to help save money and time
Local authority testing services
AlphaBiolabs is an ISO 17025 accredited testing laboratory, that specialises in providing legally-approved DNA, drug and alcohol testing services to local authorities, social workers and councils across Ireland.
We work to your tight deadlines to bring you the fastest, most accurate results every time.
Price Match Promise
We will match any
like for like quote
and beat it by 5%
- Our drug and alcohol testing services are approved for use in court
- Our fully confidential DNA test results are accepted by Family Court
- Next day results as standard for legally-instructed DNA tests
- Guaranteed sample collection within 48 hours of instructing a test
- Samples can be collected anywhere you wish, or for free at our Dublin walk-in centre
- All testing is done in-house at our laboratory: we do not ship our samples abroad or to other laboratories
- Guaranteed lowest prices in the industry
- Combining our next day Legal DNA test with sample collection at our Dublin walk-in centre maximises cost-effectiveness and helps save you more money
- A dedicated account manager and one point of contact will keep you informed throughout the process
We care because you do
We know that child protection and welfare issues are an absolute priority.
If a child is at risk of significant harm then they need to be made safe. The decisions you make will be life-changing, affecting the child’s future and the outcome of the family unit. We can help you make the right choices by giving you expert advice and accurate results, whether requesting a DNA test or assessing a parent’s drug and/or alcohol use.
Our test results have been used by courts for over 15 years, so we are confident that we can guide you through childcare proceedings.
We also understand that your time is precious. We aim to lessen your caseload by providing you with your own personal account manager so you will only have one point of contact throughout the whole process. Your proactive account manager will keep you up to date with any information regarding your case, and will ensure your deadlines are met.
We can save you time and money:
- Instant quote forms to easily and quickly obtain a quotation
- Sample collection from a convenient place or free at our Dublin walk-in centre
- The fastest, most accurate testing from our award-winning, accredited laboratory
- Next day DNA testing
- An easy-to-understand toxicology report within 3 working days
- No extra charge for split invoicing
- Guaranteed lowest prices in the industry (we will beat any like for like prices you have been given by another provider)
Local authority drug testing services
AlphaBiolabs has over 15 years’ experience in hair strand drug testing.
We also employ some of Europe’s foremost toxicology experts in our dedicated state-of-the-art laboratory, so you can be 100% sure of our drug test results.
Our tests are routinely performed using either scalp (head) or body hair samples. We can determine drug use over a period of months, show if your client has refrained from taking drugs, and if they have started taking drugs again.
The hair drug testing process is made up of five steps: sample collection, sample decontamination, drug extraction, simultaneous drug screening, identification and quantitation using high performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS/MS). As all samples are tested in-house at our laboratory, we can be confident of offering the fastest results.
As an additional service, we can tell you if we find other drugs in hair samples that have not been disclosed by the sample donor should you require this service.
Local authority alcohol testing services
AlphaBiolabs offers a full alcohol testing service ranging from breath point-of-care tests and blood alcohol testing, to hair alcohol testing, nail alcohol testing, and SCRAM Continuous Alcohol Monitoring®, using a bracelet worn around the ankle.
The two key methods of testing for alcohol abuse used by local authorities involve either hair or blood samples. AlphaBiolabs follows the consensus on hair alcohol testing for chronic excessive alcohol consumption published by the Society of Hair Testing.
We also offer four blood alcohol tests: Phosphatidylethanol (PEth), Cardohydrate Deficient Transferrin (CDT), Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV) and Liver Function Test (LFT).
Continuous around-the-clock alcohol monitoring is also available via SCRAM CAM®, an innovative alcohol-monitoring bracelet, making it possible to detect alcohol consumption in real time.
Local authority DNA testing services
Alphabiolabs’ DNA testing services have helped in thousands of child protection and immigration cases.
Our services are fully confidential and provide court-approved results that are accepted by Family Court, and for use in child maintenance and custody disputes.
We have also improved the speed of our legal DNA testing to an unbeatable next day service, making this the fastest legal DNA testing as standard in the world.
This allows you more time to make those crucial decisions about the future of your wards, and is offered at no additional cost.
Easy-to-understand reports
Our Statement of Witness reports are clear, concise and won’t baffle you with science.
They include all the details of the examinations performed, the results in full and a conclusion based on the evidence.
To save you time deciphering the content, our Chief Reporting Scientist also provides their expert opinion where they interpret the results. Together with the other available evidence, our reports will be invaluable in helping you determine the outcome for your case.
Flexible sample collection service
We offer a dedicated sample collection service that is available to take your client’s samples at a time convenient to you and at a place of your choosing, guaranteed within 48 hours of instruction.
This could be your client’s home, workplace or even your offices if you require. All of our collections follow strict chain of custody procedures and samples are taken by fully qualified sample collectors. This ensures your case will not be delayed due to an incorrect procedure.
We also offer legal testing at our Dublin walk-in centre. No appointment is required and samples are collected for free for legally-instructed cases.
To book a sample collection appointment, simply call 01 402 9466 or email testing@alphabiolabs.com to register your case.
Chain of custody ensured
Chain of custody is crucial to provide court-approved results that can be used for legal reasons. All of our sample collectors are fully trained and maintain chain of custody throughout the process. They follow strict guidelines and their procedures include checking identification and providing proof that the sample collection took place (such as photos of sample donors) to ensure that the intended individual provided the sample.
*Our sample collection service is not included in our scope of accreditation.
Approved testing services
We have supported thousands of local authorities with their drug, alcohol and DNA testing over the years and we are considered to be the fastest, most accurate testing laboratories.
We go to great lengths to ensure that our testing processes are the best available, which is why you can be sure if you take any test with AlphaBiolabs you will receive the fastest, most accurate testing service available.
Nationwide network of sample collectors
We have a wide network of sample collectors available to take your client’s samples. They are also able to collect samples from an address of your choice, or by arranging a collection at our Dublin walk-in centre.
We also regularly work with doctors who may be able to collect your client’s samples for a small fee.
If you are representing a local authority and require a test for a client please call 01 402 9466 or email testing@alphabiolabs.com for more information.
Ministry of Justice approved testing
Our entry on the Ministry of Justice list can be checked here so you can be sure that you’re getting the most accurate and accredited testing available.
We are a UKAS-accredited testing laboratory (No. 2773), to the quality technical standard of ISO 17025, and are certified to ISO 9001.
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Our testing methods
Oral fluid drug testing
Oral fluid drug testing is a method that can be used to determine whether someone is misusing drugs by taking a sample of their saliva and analysing it for particular substances.
An immediate negative result may mean that no further action needs to be taken, but a non-negative result will then undergo confirmation testing from the laboratory to determine exactly what substance was taken and in what quantities.
Oral fluid drug testing is known as a ‘narrow window’ form of testing as its period of detection is up to 48 hours, although this can depend on the particular substance taken.
Urine drug testing
Urine drug testing is used to determine whether someone is misusing drugs by taking a sample of their urine and analysing it for particular substances.
This form of testing can be particularly useful for on-site / point of care testing as an immediate negative result will usually mean that no further action is necessary. A non-negative result may require confirmation testing from the laboratory in order to determine exactly what substance was taken and in what quantities.
This form of drug testing has been established for many years and has an abundance of scientific evidence to support its accuracy when all the relevant procedures are followed.
Urine drug testing is known as a ‘narrow-window’ form of testing and the usual period of detection is up to 4 days, although this can depend on the particular substance taken.
Hair drug testing
Hair drug testing is an extremely useful form of testing and can be used to support other methods such as oral fluid and urine testing.
It can be particularly useful for a more comprehensive overview of a person’s drug use as it is known as a ‘wide window’ form of testing, which can determine a history of drug intake for up to 12 months.
Breath alcohol testing
The person being tested for alcohol use blows into a breath alcohol device, and the results are given as a number. The number, known as the breath alcohol concentration (BAC), shows the level of alcohol in the breath at the time the test was taken. It does not measure past use of alcohol.
We have a number of devices we can use for breath alcohol testing dependent on your individual needs.
Blood alcohol testing
We recommend a blood test to detect alcohol biomarkers in conjunction with clinical assessment to gain a greater insight into an individual’s alcohol use.
Our blood alcohol tests include: Phosphatidylethanol (PEth), Cardohydrate Deficient Transferrin (CDT), Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV) and Liver Function Test (LFT).
SCRAM Continuous Alcohol Monitoring®
SCRAM Continuous Alcohol Monitoring® (SCRAM CAM®) is an innovative way of testing a participant’s alcohol consumption over a defined period of time. The tamper-proof SCRAM CAM® bracelet is worn on the ankle for between 1 and 120 days. Because of its transdermal method of detection (through the skin) every 30 minutes, 24 hours a day, the non-invasive bracelet provides a comprehensive profile of a participant’s drinking activities throughout the entire day and night.
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Free sample collection in Ireland
AlphaBiolabs has gone to great lengths to create a network of qualified Sample Collectors who are able to take your client’s legally admissible DNA, drug and alcohol samples.
Better still, using our Dublin walk-in centre for your sample collections could save you money.
Call 01 402 9466 or email testing@alphabiolabs.com to register your case, and arrange your sample collection now.