Mr. Michael Donnellan:

To put it in perspective, the write-off is now down to 8%. Take a comparison between Shelton Abbey and Cloverhill Prison, which the Comptroller and Auditor General looked at. Cloverhill Prison is a full operating remand prison and is very busy with people going in and out all the time, all around the country. The write-off there is negligible. However, in Shelton Abbey we must remember that the total staff comprises only 50 officers, of whom 40 are on additional hours. There are only 29 on the 360 band. A very small number of staff proportionally are getting the benefit of the write-off in comparison to the vast numbers which are in our closed prisons. One of the principles of the system was that there would be a write-off. The write-off was always seen as part of smarter working and more efficient working where annualised hours in the private sector and the semi-State sector are concerned. The write-off was always a feature of additional hours.