Léim ar aghaidh chuig an bpríomhábhar
Gnáthamharc

Prison Staff.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 April 2005

Wednesday, 27 April 2005

Ceisteanna (196)

Richard Bruton

Ceist:

227 Mr. Bruton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the cost to the State of escorting prisoners to courts for appearances; the proportion of man hours for this purpose which are paid at overtime rates; his proposals to reschedule the hearing of these cases or to reschedule the rosters of staff used in order to reduce the reliance on overtime, overnights and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13522/05]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The Deputy will be aware that, following the rejection by prisons staff of the proposal for organisational change in the Prison Service, I have decided to proceed with a range of measures consistent with the Government decision of November 2003, including the early enactment of legislation to privatise the prisoner escort service and parallel arrangements for tenders for privatisation of prisoner escorts. Initial arrangements in relation to the tendering process are already underway. A prior indicative notice, PIN, is being submitted today for publication in the EU Journal.

Given the commercial sensitivity of the information sought by the Deputy, in the light of my decision to privatise prisoner escorts, it would be inappropriate for me to publish such information at this time. However, I can assure the Deputy that the privatisation of escorts will result in a significant reduction in overtime and in predictability and stability of the delivery of services to prisoners.

A review of staffing arrangements to reduce reliance on overtime is also under way on a prison by prison basis with a view to ensuring adherence to current overtime budgetary limits.

Barr
Roinn