McDowell could ignore advice on prison escorts
A Department of Justice group recommended that, instead of privatising the service, a national escort body be established.
The Prisons Service Staffing and Operations Review Team (SORT) said: “The team considered and concluded that privatisation of prisoner escorts is not a viable option at this point in time.
“The team considered that it would not be appropriate to privatise the service at a time when it is not operating efficiently.”
The expert team said privatising would prevent the authorities from introducing efficiencies and cost savings in the current system.
It said other options, such as privatisation, should only be considered if, following these changes, the efficiencies and cost savings were still insufficient.
Mr McDowell and the Prison Service Director General Sean Aylward have said on several occasions that privatisation of prison escorts was being considered. In the Dáil last week, the Justice Minister said he was considering the option as part of a radical plan to cut overtime costs if prison officers turned down a new deal.
The bill for overtime in 2002 was €59.3 million. It is expected to reach €64m this year. The Prison Officers’ Association is currently voting on the deal.
The SORT team was set up under the previous Justice Minister, John O’Donoghue, and reported in July 2002, after Mr McDowell assumed office. It recommended a centralised Prison Service Escort Corps (PSEC) be set up. It also stressed the current system needed fundamental change.
“The team found that there are serious inefficiencies in the management of prisoner escorts, that the cost of maintaining the service is at an unacceptably high level and that radical change is, consequently, essential,” the report said.
The committee said local responsibility in each institution for escorts was causing disruption, duplication and extra cost. On the hot topic of overtime it added: “Neither can a continuing reliance on overtime working for the staffing of the majority of escorts be sustained.”
The team said the success of the PSEC was dependant on reducing the numbers of prisoners being escorted, of escorts and their duration and cutting the staff to prisoner ratio. Rick Lines of the Irish Penal Reform Trust questioned why privatisation was being considered.
“We are concerned with introducing corporate decision making into any aspect of the prison service until there is evidence that it is effective. Where is the evidence in relation to prisoner escorts?”
