Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 23 Jun 1999

Vol. 506 No. 6

Written Answers. - Prison Service.

Jim Higgins

Ceist:

92 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the amount of overtime paid to the top ten recipients in the prison service for the first three months in each of the years from 1996 to 1999. [16046/99]

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

The amount of overtime paid to the top ten recipients in the prison service for the first three months in each of the years from 1997 to 1999 are as follows;

Year.	Institution	Grade	Amount £
1997	Mountjoy	Chief Trades Officer 1	9,631.17
	Mountjoy	Prison Officer	9,381.97
	Mountjoy	Prison Officer	9,124.62
	Mountjoy	Assistant Governor	8,718.82
	Mountjoy	Assistant Chief Officer	8,590.94
	Castlerea	Assistant Chief Officer	8,123.84
	Castlerea	Assistant Governor	8,092.52
	Mountjoy	Chief Officer 2	8,083.25
	Mountjoy	Chief Officer 2	7,804.95
	Portlaoise	Trades Officer	7,584.90
1998	Mountjoy	Prison Officer	13,285.03
	Mountjoy	Prison Officer	11,791.51
	Wheatfield	Prison Officer	11,306.99
	Mountjoy	Prison Officer	11,098.76
	Portlaoise	Trades Officer	10,878.56
	Portlaoise	Assistant Chief Officer	10,774.31
	Mountjoy	Prison Officer	10,397.96
	Portlaoise	Assistant Chief Officer	10,397.96
	Mountjoy	Chief Officer 2	10,329.48
	Mountjoy	Prison Officer	9,901.16
1999	Mountjoy	Prison Officer	11,345.94
	Portlaoise	Trades Officer	10,964.12
	Portlaoise	Prison Officer	10,470.42
	Mountjoy	Trades Officer	10,411.37
	Mountjoy	Prison Officer	10,379.59
	Portlaoise	Prison Officer	10,360.79
	Portlaoise	Assistant Chief Officer	10,318.69
	Mountjoy	Prison Officer	10,267.38
	Portlaoise	Assistant Chief Officer	10,254.34
	Portlaoise	Assistant Chief Officer	9,919.45

Information requested regarding payments made during 1996 is unavailable as computerised records only exist from 1997 onwards.

In examining the trend in the amounts paid in overtime over the period in question, account must be taken of the impact of general and special pay increases, the increased amount paid does not mean that the number of hours overtime worked increased to the same extent.

Jim Higgins

Ceist:

93 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of people in prison; and the number of staff employed in prisons. [16047/99]

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

On Friday 18 June 1999, there were 2,840 persons in custody in Irish prisons and places of detention with a total of 2,941 serving staff, of which 2,344 are at prison officer grade. In addition vocational educational committees employ approximately 172 whole time equivalent teachers for work in prisons and places of detention.

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 institution at present, and in the light of developments in regard to prisoner accommodation.