Vol. 468 No. 4
665 Ms O'Donnell asked the Minister for Justice the specific steps, if any, her Department will take to reduce the overtime bill in the prison service in view of the fact that the overtime budget in prisons is consistently breached; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15796/96]
The overtime allocation for the prison service has been constantly exceeded over the years. The factors involved are complex. Prisons by their nature are labour intensive and agreed staffing levels must be maintained in the interest of the good order of the institutions, irrespective of demands arising outside the prisons for escorts to courts, hospitals and other prisons. These demands, which must be met, account for more than one quarter of overtime expenditure.
The level of overtime also reflects the increasing pressure on the prison system which has had to cope with a 50 per cent increase in the number of committals since 1991. A further factor which links into overtime is sick leave as staff who do not attend for duty, by and large, must be replaced on overtime in order to maintain required staffing levels.
Whatever the justifiable reasons for overtime, high levels of overtime are not in the long-term interests of either prison staff and their families or of the prison service. With a view to addressing this and other matters which affect prison costs, a review of the operating costs of the prison service is being carried out. This review group includes representatives of prison governors, prison staff, my Department, as well as people from the public and private sectors and the Department of Finance. I hope to receive its report within a matter of months.
