Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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Question 182: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason prison officers must complete a number of overtime hours every quarter; if this complies with the working time directive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4914/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I have reversed the unacceptable trend of spiralling overtime costs which has been a feature of our prisons operations for many years. As a result of my determination to tackle this unsustainable dependence on overtime to run our prisons there was a reduction in the overtime bill of some €13.4 million in 2004 compared to 2003.

Attendance over and above the standard working week is a common requirement in large organisations and will continue to be necessary to run the Prison Service in the future. However, the Deputy will be aware of my determination to address the high level of overtime working in the service and in that context a new approach to extra attendance by prison staff has had to be put in place.

In August last year, prisons staff voted by a substantial majority to accept the revised proposal for organisational change in the Irish Prison Service. A central element of the new working arrangements in the agreement, the third and final phase of which will be rolled out in all prisons and places of detention on 11 February 2006, is the introduction of a new additional hours system. This system, which is based on the concept of annualised hours, will see the elimination of overtime working by prison staff. The target savings in a full year of the new system is €25 million.

A key feature of the system is that staff contract to work a fixed number of additional hours in the quarter and they are paid for these whether or not they actually have to work the hours. This approach encourages smart working thereby reducing the need for extra attendance. This generates benefits for both staff and management. Management will have staff available when they are needed most while staff will have predictable attendance patterns and earnings. The net effect of the new system will be to reduce by more than half the number of hours worked by staff over and above the normal working week.

The agreed arrangements for extra attendance are in compliance with the terms of the working time directive and represent a major improvement in that respect from the former overtime arrangements which have applied in the Prison Service until now.