Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 3 Mar 1999

Vol. 501 No. 4

Written Answers. - Prison Staff.

Jim Higgins

Ceist:

150 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the amount of overtime paid to prison officers in 1998; and the amount of overtime paid to each of the top ten earners of overtime in the prison system. [6331/99]

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

The total amount of overtime paid to prison officers in 1998 was £33,820,000.

Details of the amounts paid to the top ten recipients of overtime in 1998 are as follows:

Institution	Grade	Amount £
Mountjoy	Prison Officer	48,550.43
Mountjoy	Prison Officer	45,220.67
Portlaoise	Prison Officer	45,120.77
Portlaoise	Trades Officer	45,001.18
Mountjoy	Prison Officer	41,629.99
Mountjoy	Prison Officer	40,733.21
Mountjoy	Chief Officer II	40,135.33
Portlaoise	Assistant Chief Officer	37,930.28
Mountjoy	Chief Officer II	37,531.43
Portlaoise	Assistant Chief Officer	37,491.92

The issue of prison overtime is being addressed on a day to day management basis, and also through the implementation of productivity measures agreed with the Prison Officers' Association under the Programme for Competitiveness and Work and through the work of a dedicated staffing review team. The aim is to reduce the overall level of overtime payments on the level of overtime earnings in individual cases as it has to be recognised that the present situation, as disclosed by the figures just quoted, is certainly unsatisfactory and has been unsatisfactory for many years.