Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 13 Dec 2001

Vol. 546 No. 5

Written Answers. - Prison Staff.

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

As I indicated in my written replies to the same question on 3 October 2001, tabled in the name of Deputy William Penrose, and on 13 November 2001, tabled in the name of Deputy Róisín Shortall, the total figure for overtime expenditure in 2000 was 49,118,518, £38,683,977. The largest overtime payment to any one individual was 56,484, £44,485, which was paid to a Prison Officer in mountjoy prison. The average overtime per officer during 2000 was 15,663, £12,336.

The capacity to earn high sums in overtime arises from the preference of local prisons man agement and staff to meet overtime staffing requirements on a voluntary basis. Certain staff make themselves available for unpopular and unsocial shifts more frequently than others and this is accepted as it reduces the need to compel other officers to work overtime. The Irish Prison Service is continuing to monitor levels of overtime and to take corrective action where possible. The underlying problems associated with the level of additional attendance involved in the operation of the prisons do not lend themselves to short-term solutions. Staffing levels and arrangements are the product of operational circumstances which have been in place for many decades against a background, at times, of considerable tensions and difficulty.

It has long been recognised that the only way of addressing the problem is to follow a long-term strategy which addresses the methods of deployment and conditions of service which give rise to the present high levels of overtime. This is the approach which is now being taken. Arising from the report of the Prison Service Cost Review Group, a staffing and operations review, SORT, comprising senior personnel from my Department and local prisons management, was established with the following terms of reference: (a) to provide a credible record of what is actually happening in each prison having regard to the role and function of the prison regime and the constraints which exist; (b) to establish the cost in man hours of running the prison with present rosters and work-posts, while providing for non-effective time, e.g. sick leave and training and (c) to make recommendations about how arrangements can be improved and-or work reorganised to deliver an effective service.

Detailed reports have been prepared in accordance with these terms of reference on all institutions within the prison system. In addition a global report, containing recommendations applicable service wide, was published earlier this year. These reports now provide the basis for the next stage of the strategy which is the strategic effectiveness programme, STEP, which has been under way since March last. The STEP process has involved the engagement of staff interests through a change implementation team in which both management and the Prison Officers' Association are represented. The team is examining how the revised tasks identified in the SORT reports might be undertaken without the need for overtime. It is also examining the changes which would need to be made to the management and organisational structure in the prisons and conditions of service. It is intended that the STEP process will lead as soon as possible, not only to more effective agreed work practices within the prison system, based on SORT recommendations, but also to a deeper emphasis on care and rehabilitation of prisoners. An enhanced training and development regime for prison staff will also be a core element in this new dispensation.