Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 26 Nov 1998

Vol. 497 No. 4

Written Answers - Prison Staff.

Pat Rabbitte

Question:

63 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the terms of reference of the review group established to look at the issue of overtime within the prison service; when the group will report; and the number of hours of overtime worked by the prison officer who, according to the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, received £38,378 in overtime payments. [25078/98]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

The terms of reference of the Prison Service cost review team are as recommended in the report of the Prison Service operating cost review group, that is "that a staffing review project be initiated and a small team of practitioners recruited to undertake an assessment of the man-hours to deliver the agreed regime activities and services and to recommend associated systems of attendance and deployment practices".

The objective of the project, in accordance with the terms of reference, is to assess the current staffing and operational procedures of the various institutions and the Prison Service as a whole and to make general and specific recommendations as to how the work of the service might be carried out in a more effective and efficient manner.

The team is in a training phase. The report of the team will, in fact, consist of up to 18 reports on individual institutions facilities and an overall Prison Service report. The projected timescale for the entire assessment is in the region of 12 months but, given the size of the task, this will become clearer as the actual assessment phase progresses.

The level of overtime earned by the officer referred to by the Deputy equates to approximately 36 basic hours extra per week. That level of extra attendance is, however, not sustainable and is a matter of concern which governors have been asked to seek ways to avoid in the future.

Other steps currently being taken to address costs in the prison system, especially overtime, include the examination of ways of reducing the incidence of escorts to court, the implementation of cost-saving measures under the PCW agreement, implementation of IT systems which will support control of costs, the reduction in the level of sick leave and the allocation of overtime budgets to governors.