Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

The Deputy will be aware that the recently published Prisons Bill 2005 contains provisions which will enable the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to enter into an agreement with another party for the provision of prisoner escort services. This legislation will be enacted without delay.

Arrangements to invite tenders for the outsourcing of this service will proceed in parallel. This has already begun with the publication in the EU Journal of a preliminary indicative notice, PIN, so that the time needed to complete the tendering process can be minimised. I expect that a contract following this process will be signed by the end of September. This will have a major impact on overtime expenditure in the prison service given that approximately 30% of all overtime earnings is attributable to prisoner escorts.

The unpredictability of escorts leads to a considerable degree of disruption in the day-to-day running of prisons and the routine of inmates and causes considerable difficulties for prison management in operational planning. In the current context of the absence of an agreement on the change needed for a more efficient prison service, the utilisation of highly trained staff resources by both the Garda Síochána and the Irish Prison Service in the provision of a non-core activity warrants review. I have no doubt that elements in the private security industry would be better placed to provide this service in an efficient and effective manner.

The provision of prisoner escorts by the private sector has been a feature of the criminal justice system in neighbouring jurisdictions for some time. The engagement of dedicated prisoner escort providers utilising the appropriate cellular vehicles has allowed the prison authorities in those jurisdictions to focus on their core activities, namely, the safe and secure detention of offenders with a focus on returning these individuals to society in better shape than when they first encountered the criminal justice system.

My decision to proceed with the contracting out of prisoner escorts should also be seen in the context of increasing regulation of the private security industry, particularly the licensing requirements contained in the Private Security Services Act 2004 and the creation of a private security authority.

The background to my decision to proceed with the contracting out of prisoner escorts is well known.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

It has long been recognised that the huge level of expenditure on overtime in the prison service is not sustainable and must be reduced. Unfortunately, when Deputy Costello's party was last in Government, it did nothing to tackle the problem which diverts much needed funds from important projects such as prisoner rehabilitation programmes and an accelerated prisons building programme.

Since I took office in 2002, I have allowed ample space and time for a mutually acceptable negotiated settlement to be reached between the Irish Prison Service and the Prison Officers Association. Following the rejection of the earlier offer in October 2003, I agreed to use the full range of industrial relations machinery available in the State, including the conciliation services of the Labour Relations Commission and the ultimate arbitration facilities of the Civil Service Arbitration Board. That process continued over a 16-month period and involved long and difficult negotiations leading to a substantial arbitration award recommendation. The deal included an 8% pensionable arbitration allowance and the payment of a lump sum of €13,750. Unfortunately, the members of the Prison Officers Association did not follow the recommendation of their own executive and decided to reject the proposal for organisational change in the prison service.

While I understand that the Prison Officers Association believes that the proposal for organisational change can be tweaked on a cost neutral basis, it needs to be clearly understood that no Minister can be in the business of renegotiating a proposal which has already been arbitrated on by the Civil Service Arbitration Board. As the Deputy knows, the arbitration process is the end of the line. I cannot compromise the integrity of the industrial relations process which has served us so well and must continue to serve our public services into the future. I have already made it clear in the House that I will consider any detailed proposals which the POA may wish to put forward in writing which are not incompatible with the issues already considered by the arbitrator.

In the meantime, I intend to proceed apace with the agenda already approved by Government to ensure that the prison service is run as efficiently and cost effectively as possible. That agenda, which includes the contracting out of prisoner escorts, is now in place and, as I have already indicated, steps to implement it are already under way.

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