Government 'should not threaten prison privatisation'

THE Government should stop threatening prison officers with privatisation, if they fail to accept an offer on overtime, a top criminal expert said yesterday.

The call came as the Prison Officers' Association (POA) yesterday announced they intended to begin balloting their members on Saturday, October 4, on the offer.

The POA deferred the start of the ballot following indications from the Prison Service that they would receive a slightly revised offer tomorrow.

At a conference against prison privatisation yesterday, Dr Paul O'Mahony said privatisation was being threatened on the back of the overtime dispute.

"It's unfortunate to use the threat of privatisation in current negotiations on overtime," he said. "It should be dropped as a threat."

The Trinity College Dublin researcher said the Minister for Justice Michael McDowell was right to cut the overtime bill, but privatisation was not the way.

"It is quite obvious that we have an extremely costly and wasteful system and that the €64m overtime bill is part of the problem.

"The State is right to try and confront this. But handing prisons over to private corporations, who are driven by profits, and can't place the right priority on human rights, is wrong."

Dr O'Mahony was speaking at a press conference organised by the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT).

Meanwhile, there was a glimmer of a possible compromise yesterday on the overtime offer.

Eugene Dennehy of the POA said they had received indications from the Prison Service that they would receive a slightly revised offer by the close of business tomorrow.

If the POA has the offer by Friday, it will print copies for the 3,000 members, plus ballot papers, and begin balloting the following Saturday.

Balloting would go on for 21 days.