Minister for Justice Michael McDowell is to press ahead with plans to privatise much of the prison system after an offer on overtime pay and conditions was rejected by prison officers.
Gardaí and the Army have drawn up contingency plans if prison officers go on strike.
The outcome of the Prison Officers' Association (POA) ballot of its 3,200 members on the deal emerged last night. The POA now wants an urgent meeting with Mr McDowell to find a way forward. However, last night Mr McDowell told The Irish Times: "Crisis talks are over."
Asked if there was anything more he could do, he replied: "There's nothing credible I can do. I wouldn't do it even if I could." He said the deal offered to the officers had been "more generous than I would have liked", and added that if the prison officers were expecting a "sweetener" they were gravely mistaken and "they don't know me".
He said the public expected him to act decisively. He would now begin a major reform process which would include:
The privatisation of prison escorts. Legislation in this regard was already drafted and the new system could be in operation early next year.
The mooted new prisons at Mountjoy and Cork may be put to tender on a "construct and operate" basis, according to Mr McDowell. This would mean their privatisation.
Permanent closure of Spike Island Prison, Co Cork, and the Curragh prison, which are already being mothballed.
Shelton Abbey, Co Wicklow and Loughan House, Co Cavan - both open prisons - to be run by management committees, working outside of the Irish Prison Service.
The overtime budget, cut to €48 million this year from €60 million last year, will be reduced further by €10 million to €15 million within 12 months.
Fine Gael's Jim O'Keeffe said a deal was still possible and Mr McDowell "should deal with this situation with a cool head rather than in a petulant fashion". Labour's Joe Costello said he regretted the outcome of the ballot and the "petulant and intemperate response of the Minister".
The deal offered to the officers would have seen each receive €13,750 in compensation over three years, a new annual allowance based on 8 per cent of basic pay, and a new improved rate of overtime worked, set at 1.8 times the basic hourly pay. They would have been expected to work seven hours rostered overtime weekly. The department estimated a saving of around €25 million per annum.
Mr McDowell said under the deal rejected by the officers, the basic entry salary for senior officers would have been €70,000, on par with a superintendent in An Garda Síochána. A normal grade prison officer just entering the service would have received €48,000, up from €37,000.
The POA, which had recommended acceptance by its members, last night said: "The rejection of this formal proposal presents challenges for all concerned and it is imperative that a constructive and workable way forward is found in the best interests of prison officers and the prison service."
Last night the Department of Justice issued the inspector of prisons' report for 2003, which it had delayed citing legal concerns. In the report, Dermot Kinlen criticised conditions in Mountjoy prison, Civil Service bureaucracy, the lack of counsellors for sex offenders and the "mantra of secrecy" in the Department of Justice. He also criticised the prison service for sending senior officials on first-class flights to view institutions in Australia, the USA and other countries.
