Prison officers stage walkout during McDowell speech

Delegates at the Irish Prison Officers Association's annual conference staged a mass walkout today as Justice Minister Michael McDowell delivered a speech warning of a crackdown on prison officers' overtime.

Mr McDowell told an almost empty room that he plans to introduce a new annualised hours system in September, regardless of the views of the IPOA.

Mr McDowell said the crackdown on overtime was necessary due to budgetary restraints.

He said the cost of overtime in Irish prisons had risen from €36.6m to €59.3m in the past six years, adding that this year's capital spending programme for prisons was suspended in order to fund the overtime bill.