Northern Ireland Secretary Mr Paul Murphy is to meet prison union officials today for talks aimed at averting a threatened strike over demands for improved security at the homes of jail warders in the North.
Officials from the Prison Officers' Association (POA) were due to meet Mr Murphy in London, and have warned they may defy a legal ban on calling industrial action if agreement is not reached.
"Our national executive committee has said if this meeting doesn't resolve the issue there will be a national strike across the United Kingdom to support prison officers and their families here," said Northern Ireland POA chairman Mr Finlay Spratt.
The dispute has its roots in the October 2002 police operation against an alleged IRA spy ring which led to the collapse of Northern Ireland's power-sharing government.
After carrying out raids at Stormont and on addresses in Belfast, police warned that the personal details of more than 1,400 prison officers were in the hands of the IRA.
Some officers on the list were helped to move house, but around 600 opted for beefed-up home security paid for by the authorities under the Key Personnel Protection Scheme.
Now the POA says the scheme, which allocated up to £20,000 for additional security, was inadequate, and want more spent on the installation of further measures such as bulletproof glass in all the windows of officers' homes.
A spokesman for the Northern Ireland Prison Service said the authorities had committed £28 million to improving security or helping prison officers affected move house.
"The government is satisfied the scheme as it is currently configured, and has served people in Northern Ireland for over 20 years, is appropriate and commensurate with the level of threat," he said.