Parliamentary Question: Prison Staff

18th November 2003

408. Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of prison officers based at Shelton Abbey, Arklow, County Wicklow; the amount to overtime per week which is allocated to the service there; the amount on average of this which is used; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27434/03]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. McDowell): As of 31 October 2003, there were 43 Prison Service staff based at Shelton Abbey, Arklow, County Wicklow. The current overtime budget at Shelton Abbey is 292 hours per week. This reflects a 15% cut in budgeted hours since 1 September this year. In 2003 to date - 31 October 2003 - Shelton Abbey has used an average of 348 hours overtime per week.

Over the past 20 years staff overtime costs in the Prison Service have grown out of all proportion to the scale of the organisation's activities. The expenditure involved has been cannibalising funds allocated by the Oireachtas for major building and refurbishment work and for the improvement of the prison service generally. Over €60 million is being spent on overtime payments for about 3,300 prison officers in 2003 which is considerably more than the overtime expenditure on the entire Garda Síochána this year with its 11,900 members. This situation cannot be allowed to continue. The Government has authorised me to take action in the event that an agreement on staffing arrangements cannot be achieved by the end of the year with the Prison Officers' Association, or POA. In the event that this agreement with the POA cannot be achieved, the Government has decided that the running of Shelton Abbey will be transferred from the Prison Service. The intention is that this facility would then become a post-release centre for the reintegration into society of low-risk offenders on conditional temporary release.

It is important to note that despite seven years of consultation and dialogue, it has not been possible to date to secure POA support for the necessary reforms in this area. The POA has recently offered to accept some technical elements of the reform package while insisting the overtime system be kept in place or 1,200 extra staff recruited. They have demanded a basic pay increase for this "concession". Basic pay increases are precluded under the current national pay agreement, Sustaining Progress, which is binding on all public service organisations, including the Prison Service, and is therefore not a workable solution.