Parliamentary Question: Prison Staff

18th November 2003

407. Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his plans to withdraw prison officers from Shelton Abbey, Arklow, County Wicklow; if so, when this will happen; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27433/03]

409. Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the way in which he proposes to run the centre if he withdraws prison officers from Shelton Abbey, Arklow, County Wicklow; if he will enter into an agreement with the current staff to be part of the new operation, if one is put in place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27435/03]

421. Mr. N. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his plans for the transfer of staff from a prison (details supplied) in County Cork; and if they will be accommodated within the Munster area. [27582/03]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. McDowell): I propose to take Questions Nos. 407, 409 and 421 together.

The background to much of this discussion is already known to the Deputies. In that regard, I draw the Deputies' attention to the Adjournment debates on 12 November last on the transfer to another agency of the running of both Loughan House in County Cavan and Shelton Abbey in County Wicklow and the plans to accommodate the population of Fort Mitchel Place of Detention should the institution close.

On 11 November last, the Government approved the progressive implementation from 1 January 2004 of a number of measures, in the event of failure to reach agreement with the Prison Officers Association, POA, on the proposed change agenda aimed at eliminating overtime payments and reducing other costs in the Prison Service. These measures included the mothballing of the Fort Mitchel and Curragh Places of Detention and the making of arrangements for the transformation of the open centres at Loughan House, Blacklion, County Cavan, and Shelton Abbey, Arklow, County Wicklow, into post-release centres for the reintegration into society of prisoners on conditional temporary release. My Department is carefully examining the exact arrangements which need to be put in place to give effect to this decision insofar as it affects Shelton Abbey.
I want to make clear, however, that just as I have no desire to close or mothball Fort Mitchel or the Curragh, equally, I have no desire to take away the running of Shelton Abbey and Loughan House from the Irish Prison Service. These are actions which were approved by the Government on the basis that the counter-proposal submitted by the POA is utterly unrealistic. That proposal does not address the core problem of escalating overtime costs in the Prison Service. It abandons the concept of annualised hours which both sides had long ago agreed presented the best prospect for dealing with the overtime problem for once and for all. The central features of the POA proposal are a demand for an increase in basic pay which is totally at variance with the terms of Sustaining Progress and benchmarking coupled with retention of the present discredited prison overtime system.

I want the POA to agree to a reasonable and sustainable cost structure for the continued operation by them of our prisons and the open centres, I want prison officers to continue to manage Loughan House and Shelton Abbey and I want to move forward on the basis of consensus. If that proves to be impossible to achieve, I will proceed as soon as possible with arrangements for the alternative management of the open centres and with the mothballing of Fort Mitchel and the Curragh Places of Detention. I will arrange for the transfer of prison officers from these locations to places which at the moment require high overtime in order that the amount of overtime required to be worked will be permanently reduced.

Pending the choice being made by prison staff, I am not in a position to be more specific in relation to the question of transferring staff from these institutions. In the meantime, I have agreed to meet the POA at a mutually suitable time to discuss a restart of negotiations between the parties on the basis of the official side proposals.