Hard reality of being a prison officer

ONCE again overtime earnings of prison officers are bandied about the media, and the usual comparisons are made to other employees, giving the reader the impression that we are on a gravy train of great proportions.

Let us look at the facts behind the figures.

Last year, prison officers were ordered to work overtime on more than 38,000 occasions. This means that we are told (usually at short notice) that we have to report for duty on our day off. If we fail to report we will be disciplined.

How many of my colleagues have had to tell spouses and children “sorry but I can’t spent time with you because I’ve been ordered to go to work on my scheduled time off”?

We have had to suffer countless attacks in the media from many quarters because of the costs of overtime in the prison service. How many other employees have to contend with this?

And let us not forget one important fact: of all the money paid to prison officers for overtime, about half goes back to the exchequer as tax and PRSI.

Patrick Jordan,

St Patrick’s Institution,

North Circular Road,

Dublin 7.