Mr. Michael Donnellan:

There is no doubt, as I stated earlier, but that the working environment of the prison is completely different to that of an ordinary office. To answer the Deputy's first question about prison officer sick leave, there is no doubt but that the huge pressure on prison officers during those early years - 2003 to 2005, inclusive - to do compelled overtime correlated hugely with the number of days of sick leave taken simply because of the pressure on people. They just could not keep going.

To answer the Deputy's second question, prison is a stressful environment. Suicides, self-harm, violence and all sorts of other pains go on within prisons each and every day, so the stress factor in prison is well known.