Catherine Murphy
Question:
100. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if compensation or without prejudice payments have been made to staff of the Irish Prison Service within the past three years; if so, the amounts involved; the grade or rank of staff that were involved; if this also related to pensions and pension top-ups and buying of years service; the rank or ranks or grades that were involved; the reason for such payments and top-ups and or years of service bought; if such payments required his approval or that of his predecessor; if staff exiting the IPS in such a manner are required to enter into non-disclosure agreements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46340/18]
View answer
I wish to inform the Deputy that it has not been possible in the timeframe available to collate the information sought as this entails a manual check over each month for the period in question. I will revert to the Deputy as soon as this information has been compiled.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 42A
I refer to parliamentary question No. 100 of 8 November 2018. At that time the information requested was not readily available and I undertook to forward a response to the Deputy as soon as possible.
There are a number of different types of legal cases which give rise to staff compensation within the Irish Prison Service. These cases are managed in different forums.
- The Irish Prison Service is represented by the Chief State Solicitors Office in respect of certain Personal Injury Claims where the claim includes assault between staff, or concerning staff and prisoners. The CSSO also represent the Irish Prison Service in Employment law matters which may give rise to compensation.
- The State Claims Agency has a delegated function to manage the majority of Personal Injury claims.
These claims will generally come under one of 5 hazard categories. These categories, including examples, are as follows:
a. Exposure to Physical Hazards – examples being a slip, trip or a fall, manual handling incident, fire, animal, noise.
b. Exposure to Behavioural Hazards – examples being violence, bullying, harassment, aggression.
c. Exposure to Chemical Hazards – examples being Dust, agricultural chemicals, asbestos, fumes.
d. Exposure to Biological Hazards – examples being Virus, Bacteria, Needle Stick, Bodily Fluids.
e. Crash/collisions – example being an incidents involving a prison vehicle.
- The Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal administers a scheme of Compensation for personal injuries criminally inflicted on Prison Officers. The Tribunal is a non-statutory agency of the Department and is independent of the Minister in its decision making.
The amounts contained in the following table represent compensation payments to prison officers for the years 2016 to 2018.
Within the Irish Prison Service staff, the category of person who received compensation over the period is comprised of (i) Prison Officers, (ii) Professional Grade Officers and (iii) Other Staff.
|
Year
|
Total Compensation paid €
|
|
|
|
|
2016
|
1,945,728
|
|
2017
|
1,883,743
|
|
2018
|
2,172,714
|
|
Total
|
6,002,185
|
These compensation payments do not relate to pensions, pension top-ups or the buying of years’ service.
The Irish Prison Service works closely with the State Claims Agency to help identify lessons which can be learned arising from personal injury claims.
From a policy perspective the IPS aims to achieve the highest health and safety standards across its operations and to do this has established an occupational health and safety management system which is based on the requirements of an internationally recognised safety management system.
In addition the IPS has a number of policies and procedures in place covering areas such as risk management, health and safety and dignity at work. Every effort is made to ensure compliance with these policies, including through the provision of training courses and induction, so as to minimise exposure to the hazards listed.
