Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I urge the Prison Officers' Association to continue to work in a collaborative manner and I hope the Senator will encourage them to do so in the course of his dealings with them. Some of the Senator's language is very strong and is not reflective of the management position. Management is committed to consultation and discussion on the outstanding issues. It is extremely important they continue to work together to deal with the outstanding issues.

On safety, I realise there was an incident recently and I wish to place on record that safety and security of staff in the prison service is of paramount concern to me. I have asked for a full report on the incident, which I will review to see if there are any further actions we can take to make sure we have the appropriate security measures for all staff.