24 DFómh 2012, 15:42
The Secretary General of the Department of Justice and Equality and representatives from the Prison Officers Association will attend the meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts tomorrow, Wednesday 25th October, 2012 as part of its examination of allowances.
Chairman of the Committee John McGuinness, TD, said: “Prison officers account for a large proportion of the allowances paid by the Department. From information supplied to the committee by the Department, it is clear that staff receive a myriad of allowances.
If the State was devising a pay structure for the 3000 plus staff who work in our prisons and whose job must be compensated for by the fact that it is a risky environment and probably one of the more difficult jobs being done by our public service, one would not start from where we are now.
Overall, the analysis suggests that there are way too many allowances, that some are in respect of higher duties and should be amalgamated into core pay; that some appear to be based on relativities and that some need to be phased out.
Our meeting with the Department and the Prison Officers Association will provide Committee Members with an opportunity to examine the allowance regime in greater detail.”
This meeting starts at 10am on Thursday, 25th October in Committee Room 1, LH 2000.
Committee proceedings can be followed live at: http://bit.ly/24YmPI
Ends
For further information please contact:
Ciaran Brennan,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 3903
M: 086-0496518
F: +3531 618 4551
Committee of Public Accounts
Membership
John McGuinness (Chairman)
Kieran O’Donnell (Vice Chairman)
Paul J Connaughton,
John Deasy,
Paschal Donohoe,
Gerald Nash,
Simon Harris,
Michael McCarthy,
Mary Lou McDonald,
Sean Fleming,
Eoghan Murphy,
Derek Nolan,
Shane Ross