The Government intends to cut the prison officers' overtime bill - which was £34 million last year - by up to 40 per cent, the Minister for Justice has announced. Mr O'Donoghue made the announcement in his address to the POA annual conference yesterday.
He told delegates: "All successful organisations have to have at the forefront of their policies the control of costs. The Prison Service is no different in that regard."
He said this year's budget for overtime was £32 million and it was his intention to reduce it to £22 million.
The prison officers were informed of the cut in overtime last December when the Department of Justice pointed out that new accommodation at the Mountjoy women's prison, the Cloverhill remand prison and the new Midlands Prison in Portlaoise would mean a reduction in overtime of around 40 per cent for staff.
The Department said some prison officers were regularly working 15-hour days. Regular overtime of 60 hours a week was a cause of concern from a health and safety point of view.
The POA has argued that high overtime payments - making up to 20 per cent of the total prisons salary bill - have resulted from chronic overcrowding. Attempts to remedy the situation have had little or no impact and last year the Department appointed consultants to see how overtime could be cut. One area, the Minister pointed out, would be to cut time spent escorting prisoners on long-distance journeys for court appearances.