Prison Service - Overhaul must tackle key issues

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell’s commitment to tackle the culture of overtime among prison officers is laudable but it will require more than platitudes to realise his objective.

In a keynote address at the 56th annual conference of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) in Galway, the minister will today spell out that overtime must come to an end.

The bottom line is that the Government simply does not have the money to go on meeting massive overtime bills.