Mr. Brian Purcell:

When the negotiations took place, it was with the specific intention not just of reducing overtime, but eliminating it. However, we had to replace it with a system that would deliver the service required to run our prisons. Again, this was done through negotiation and agreement. If one simply makes an unilateral announcement that certain changes are being made, there might well be a fallout in terms of industrial action, including, in this case, strikes within prisons. In order to move in the direction in which we wanted to go, we could only proceed by agreement.