The annualised bonus proposal put by the Irish Prison Service to the Prison Officers Association presents an opportunity for staff to move from a culture of working as many hours as possible to a system where the emphasis would be on working less hours and working smartly for guaranteed and consistent levels of income, which by any standard in the public sector would be extremely attractive. Under the management proposal, a typical basic grade prison officer with ten years service would earn approximately €54,000 per annum and an officer in this rank with 13 years service would earn approximately €58,000 per annum, excluding the increases due under the terms of Sustaining Progress and benchmarking. These figures also exclude the sum on offer to officers of €12,250 spread over the next three years as this is a non-recurring payment.