Door open for breakthrough on prison row

JUSTICE MINISTER Michael McDowell left the door open yesterday for a possible last-minute breakthrough on the overtime row with prison officers.

He said he would consider any detailed proposal from the Prison Officers’ Association (POA), so long as it would not cost the State any more than the deal which they overwhelmingly rejected.

But he said he would continue with plans to privatise prisoner escorts and yesterday published legislation enabling this.

“I’ve said, and I’m not being unreasonable in any way, that if they have proposals in writing which they want to put to me, I will consider that, but in the meantime I am going ahead with the plan of action that I have spelt out,” he said.

“If they have something which they say will arrive at exactly the same result without any extra expense to the Exchequer I will look at it.”

POA deputy general secretary Eugene Dennehy said it had fresh proposals which would involve “minor alterations” to the deal, with no extra cost to the State.

Mr McDowell, however, stressed there was no question of renegotiating a deal that was the result of lengthy arbitration by an independent party.

The deal, rejected by prison officers last week, would have involved all 3,000-plus officers working up to seven hours’ overtime a week on top of their normal 40-hour week.

In return, each officer would receive a €13,750 lump sum and overtime pay 1.8 times the hourly rate.

Under the proposed pay structure, prison officers on the basic grade would start work earning €45,000, increasing to €70,000 over a 12-year pay scale.

The deal was recommended by the POA executive, but rejected by more than two-thirds of officers.

Following the result, the minister announced he would go ahead with plans to privatise the costly prisoner escort service, along with the permanent closure of two prisons and the transfer of two detention centres to outside agencies.

Mr McDowell said that virtually all prisoner escorts were done on overtime, which was “colossally expensive.” The Prison Service estimates up to 30% of the overtime bill, which was €45 million last year, goes on prisoner escorts.

It also allows for the closure of the Mountjoy Prison complex and enables the holding of pre-trial hearings through videoconferencing.

At the POA conference in Castlebar yesterday, president Gabriel Keaveney expressed “bitter disappointment” at the minister’s plans to privatise the service.

He said that while privatisation was a great buzzword, it was not suitable to all security environments.