Prison officers have been told that if they do not agree to proposals to cut down on overtime, Shelton Abbey and Loughan House may be shut down and reopened under the management of a private body outside the Prison Service.
The warning came in an expected statement from the Minister for Justice, Mr Michael McDowell this evening as talks between the Prison Service and the Prison Officers Association (POA) failed to achieve a breakthrough in the Labour Relations Commission on Tuesday.
They are due to resume talks on January 12th. Negotiations are aimed at cutting the annual €60 million overtime bill. Mr McDowell told prison officers in November that their overtime pay would be halved from more than €60 million in 2003 to €30 million this year.
Mr McDowell said: "In the case of two facilities - Shelton Abbey and Loughan House - the decision is to replace the facilities in question with institutions on the same sites managed by entities independent of the Irish Prison Service who would run these centres as transition hostels for prisoners reaching the end of their sentences."
Last month, Government approval was obtained for the contingency plan to wind down or "mothball" two prisons at Fort Mitchell prison on Spike Island, Co Cork, and the Curragh Place of Detention, Co Kildare, with the transfer of prison officers and 150 prisoners elsewhere until a future date. Mr McDowell confirmed today the Curragh centre will close on January 19th and the Fort Mitchell prison will close on January 31st.
"The measures which I am implementing result 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," added Mr McDowell.
The POA branded the decision "unbelievable and provocative." A spokesman, Mr Eugene Dennehy said: "We are astounded that the minister has intervened in such an unprecedented and disruptive manner while discussions at the LRC are ongoing.
"The decision is provocative in the extreme and clearly now signals that the minister and the prison service never wanted to find a solution to this issue.
"It is unbelievable that the proposal of management on annualised hours, which was rejected by 99.4 per cent of our members, is in their view the only solution."
The Labour Party's justice spokesman, Mr Joe Costello, accused Mr McDowell of adopting a "macho" stance in the dispute with prison officers. He said the minister was "more interested in securing a victory over the POA than in securing agreement".
Mr Costello also said the decision to close Fort Mitchell and the Curragh "makes little sense" as they are among the most effective prisons in the country.
"The loss of Fort Mitchell Prison on Spike Island would be particularly regrettable as this institution is, in many respects, a model prison, with an impressive record in regard to the education and rehabilitation of prisoners," the Dublin North Central TD said.