Strike looms over prison transfers

HUNDREDS of prison officers and inmates will be transferred within weeks under plans announced by the Government yesterday.

The decision to proceed with the closure of two facilities, the transfer of a further two jails out of the Prison Service and the privatisation of escorts could lead to a strike by staff.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell said the overhaul of the service cannot be put off without creating the real possibility of a crisis. Individual prisons have also been handed reduced overtime budgets for the year, while other transfers and recruitment will be halted.

The Government wants to replace the 60 million annual overtime bill with an annualised hours system that it is hoped will slash pay costs by 30m. Prison officers rejected the annual hours deal and the offer of a lump sum of over 12,000, claiming it will effectively mean working a minimum 48-hour week.

Prison Officers’ Association president John Clinton said the minister wants to provoke staff into major industrial action, a situation, he said, which may be inevitable if last-ditch talks between the sides fail.

He was “absolutely astonished” that Mr McDowell was acting in such a provocative manner ahead of the LRC-hosted talks, due to take place a week before The Curragh, in Kildare, home to dozens of sex offenders, is due to close on January 19.

The majority of the near 100 inmates are likely to be transferred to the Midlands Prison.

Spike Island, in Cork, is due to close on January 31 and more than 50 young offenders are to be moved to Limerick and Dublin to a wing intended for young teenagers.

Prison officers at Shelton Abbey in Wicklow and Loughan House in Cavan will be transferred to other units in February. The two prisons will be replaced by hostel-type facilities run by non-prison service staff.

The closures will mean a loss of 180 prison places.

It is planned to have privatised escorts in place by July and tender invitations will be published in the European Union journal next week.

Mr McDowell said the measures resulted directly from “the failure to agree alternative methods of containing prison staff costs within the amount voted by the Oireachtas”.

“All of the institutions facing closure could yet remain open under Irish Prison Service auspices if the proposals that the management side tabled were accepted. I have been assured that the educational, vocational and welfare needs of prisoners affected by the closures will be given priority,” he said.

The LRC is still expected to host talks between management and staff on January 12. But Mr McDowell said he understands talks between the two sides are at an impasse.

“Bridging this gap would require concessions to POA demands, which would be considered by Government as being in clear breach of public pay policy and the terms of Sustaining Progress,” he said.

Labour Party justice spokesman Joe Costello claimed Mr McDowell was more interested in securing victory than agreement.

“It seems incredible, when there is agreement between the POA and the minister on the amount to be saved, that the two sides have been unable to agree on the mechanism to achieve the required cuts,” he said.