John Whelan (Labour)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this matter today. It is a matter of great urgency. I am particularly heartened to see the Minister for Justice and Equality here. The Minister has a reputation for being considerate, caring, courteous and credible,and I appeal to those attributes. I ask her to intervene personally, as the Minister responsible, in a festering dispute between the Irish Prison Service, IPS, and the Prison Officers’ Association, POA. The prison officers believe they are being backed into a corner and have no option but to take a stand and ballot for industrial action. I agree with the prison officers. They have given everything possible. They have made savings of €21 million, under the Croke Park agreement, which the Minister’s predecessor and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, can verify. Under the Haddington Road agreement they have made further verifiable savings of €11.5 million. They are not afraid of reform or change.

It is now, however, hard to distinguish in the prison system between who is serving the community, serving the country and serving time. Prison officers believe their health, safety and well-being are being put at risk by attempts to unilaterally introduce new work practices and changes without proper recourse to negotiation and reasonable, meaningful consultation with their representative body, the POA. There is a belief, which is not posturing, among the prison officers on the ground that there is an attempt by elements within the IPS to sideline and marginalise the POA so that it has no function or role in proper, adequate and reasonable negotiation for any changes. That is not acceptable.

Will the Minister call off the attack dogs within the IPS who are putting prison officers’ health and safety at risk by their attitude to what would normally be addressed through meaningful consultation and negotiation? There are security staff on the Luas wearing stab vests and equipment. At Heuston Station, which is a peaceful concourse, there are security staff with better equipment and stab vests than the prison officers have when dealing with serious criminals who are becoming increasingly violent and vicious. This is not acceptable but the industrial action which is looming in our prisons will be dangerous. The country does not need this. It is not a question of stab vests but of prison officers believing, not without foundation, that they are being stabbed in the back by elements within their own management who are putting their safety, well-being and welfare at risk, perhaps to further their own careers within the Department and the IPS.

This can be defused and solved if the Minister intervenes because all it requires is common sense and fair play to acknowledge and accept that the prison officers are involved daily in a very attritional, dangerous, difficult and challenging work environment. They do not need to be backed into a corner and for their job and stress to be added to by their own management, which has a duty of care and responsibility to ensure their health, safety and welfare but which, on the contrary, seems to be at odds with them and to be drawing the POA into confrontation. The POA has no choice in this instance but to ballot for strike action. I strongly urge the Minister to intervene and defuse this situation.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Whelan for raising this issue and affording me the opportunity to address the House and outline some details and factual points relating to the issues he mentioned and the staffing of the Prison Service. I want to acknowledge the work that is done by everyone in the prison system and many of the reforms that have been carried out in recent times. I pay tribute to everybody who has been involved in that regard.

I refer to staff numbers. The factual position is that prisoner numbers have reduced by 814, or 18%, since February 2011. We have had a 3% reduction in prison staff over the same period. As I have said, I accept the point that significant reform has been implemented in the Prison Service. That has served to modernise the service and anyone who visits our prisons can see that. We have also had quite serious capital investment in our prisons, which is ongoing and has led to significant improvements, something which is acknowledged not just nationally, but internationally. The goal has been to modernise the service so that it operates in the most effective and efficient way possible while allowing the service to operate with reduced staffing levels and ensure the safety of all prison service personnel. I will say more on that shortly.

I want to pay tribute to all involved in these important changes. The driving force behind the progress made to date has been the constructive engagement and consultation between management and the Prison Officers' Association on all aspects of the reform process under the joint task reviews, as has been agreed under the Croke Park agreement.

I have heard what the Senator had to say and I want to see the constructive engagement and consultation continue. It would be in the interests of everybody who works in the service and the country, as well as having a properly functioning Prison Service. I have discussed this matter with management and IPS management is fully committed to ensuring that staff have a safe and dignified environment in which to work in order to carry out their important duties. They have to take difficult decisions and I acknowledge that. Much of the work is based on critical risk assessment on an ongoing basis by all involved.

A key commitment in the strategic plan of the Irish Prison Service for 2012 to 2014 is the dignity at work programme. It was a major change programme concerned with improving the workplace to the benefit of staff. A number of areas have been addressed under that, including communication, professional development, training, equality and diversity, well-being at work and acceptable behaviour. There have been quite a number of initiatives under this programme, including a well-being at work policy, a framework to promote the well-being of staff; the establishment of local workplace forums; and improving communication and consultation with front-line staff. That is what I want to see happening and what will lead to the best workplace atmosphere and situation for all concerned.

I want to recognise those achievements, but the fact remains that significant savings and reforms, as set out in the Haddington Road agreement, have yet to be achieved to ensure that the sector delivers on its commitments. As the Senator knows, there is a whole-of-Government approach to that agreement and making sure that what was agreed is delivered. How we move forward in respect of the outstanding issues is probably the crux of the matter.

A number of implementation issues have arisen in respect of the Croke Park and Haddington Road agreements in recent months, but I assure the Senator that management has at all times continued to engage with the Prison Officers' Association on these issues through the well-established mechanisms contained within those agreements, which provide the appropriate framework for parties to address and resolve issues of implementation as they arise, including extensive discussions under the chairmanship of the LRC.I am keeping these matters under review and under discussion with the director general of the Irish Prison Service, IPS, and his management team. I have had contact with the general secretary of the Prison Officers' Association in which I reaffirmed the commitment of IPS management to continuing to engage with the association. The Senator said in his opening remarks that the Prison Officers' Association was not afraid of reform or change and I welcome that comment. I repeat that management is committed to working with the association. I want to see a continuation of the engagement and consultation which has been taking place.

The Senator used some phrases relating to the management position which are not accurate. I do believe management is interested in fair play and working with the association and I do not want to see further confrontation between prison officers and management. I would like to see both sides engaging and working together constructively to bring about a resolution of the outstanding issues under the Croke Park and Haddington Road agreements.

I thank the Senator for giving me the opportunity to deal with the issues and to outline the situation from my perspective.

John Whelan (Labour)
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I have every confidence in the Minister and I trust her bona fides and perspective in the matter. I urge her to hold a direct meeting with the POA at the earliest opportunity. I accept that I used strong language but I do not do so lightly. It is informed by ongoing representations I am receiving from prison officers in Portlaoise and across the country. I do not want to be inflammatory but in some cases they are fearing for their lives, such is the attritional, dangerous and violent character of the prison regime as it has now become. A reduction in prisoner numbers is not, in itself, the issue.

I am heartened to hear that the Minister is committed to ongoing consultation and change by negotiation because the POA does not get that sense from elements within the Irish Prison Service at this juncture. Trust has broken down and it needs to be restored.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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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.