Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

Does the Minister agree that the background to the Bill — the proposals to outsource prison escorts and provide prisoner escort services on a private basis — has been marked by his ongoing conflict with prison officers about the issue of overtime? The Minister has contemplated the legislation on that basis alone. He has closed three prisons and a further two prisons are about to be closed. The Minister has adopted a gung-ho approach to industrial relations, for example by telling prison officers that they cannot beat City Hall and deciding not to attend their conference. The staff of the places of detention at Spike Island and the Curragh protested outside the Dáil today against the Minister's approach. Some of them were joined by members of their families, who are aggrieved about the manner in which children will be torn from their parents, who will have to work in other parts of the country such as Portlaoise and Cork. The Minister plans to move them to various parts of Dublin in the future.

The Minister said that the Exchequer faces substantial costs because "approximately 30% of all overtime earnings is attributable to prisoner escorts". Has the Minister received an estimate of the cost of his proposals? Will he give such figures now? Does he agree that he should sit down with prison staff during the current window of opportunity? There is no difference between the positions of the two sides on the savings that would accrue from the reduction in the annual number of hours. Prison officers do not agree that 10% of those hours should be worked by all the officers. Many officers with young families do not want to work overtime, but their colleagues are willing to do so. I ask the Minister to address that issue as a means of making progress, rather than privatising a part of the Prison Service.

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