Vol. 502 No. 1
183 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of prison officers; the number, if any, to which it is proposed to increase their strength in the next two years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7408/99]
There is a total of 2,801 serving prison staff at present, of which 2,305 are serving at prison officer grade. In the context of the multi-annual budgets for 1999 to 2001, allowance has been made for recruitment to bring the total staffing complement to 3,370 to cater for the operation of the prisons which are due to open this year viz: Mountjoy Women's, Cloverhill and the new midlands prison in Portlaoise.
The issue of staffing strength will be kept under review in the light of the work of the dedicated staffing and operational review team which is carrying out a staffing assessment of each prison, and in the light of developments in regard to prisoner accommodation.
