Up to 100 prison officers and their families affected by the closure of the Spike Island and Curragh jails held a protest outside the Dáil today over the closure of the two prisons.
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Shelton Abbey, Arklow, Co Wicklow. The Minister for Justice proposes putting the open detention centre outside the remit of the prison service |
Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has temporarily closed the two prisons in a bid to cut costs within the prison service. He said the closure will be permanent unless prison officers accept a pay deal to cut the €60 million overtime bill.
He plans to place the running of two open prisons - Loughan House, Co Cavan, and Shelton Abbey, Co Wicklow - outside the remit of the prison service. He also announced plans earlier this month to privatise escorts.
However, the Prison Officers Association (POA) described Mr McDowell's decision to close the prisons as "despicable and shameful treatment" of the officers working there.
The POA claimed the move was a bullying tactic by Mr McDowell to force them to accept the prison overtime deal. It said some officers are forced to drive up to three hours each way to work since their transfer to Limerick Prison and the Midland Prison in Portlaoise.
"This decision has been taken by the Minister to put pressure on our members to accept the deal," POA deputy general secretary Eugene Dennehy said today. "That is unacceptable and our people will not be bullied into doing something which they do not wish to do."
Last month, POA rejected a deal that would have introduced a system of annualised hours. They would have received a payment of 1.8 times the hourly wage for additional hours, an average lump sum of €13,750, and an 8 per cent increase in operational allowances.
At the association's annual conference earlier this month, the POA proposed a new deal that would allow some prison officers work no overtime while allowing some of their colleagues to increase their levels of overtime. Mr McDowell responded by saying his offer was not open to negotiation.