Talks at the Labour Relations Commission aimed at overcoming the impasse in the dispute about prison officers' overtime will reconvene this morning.
Today's talks follow on from a series of meetings last week, when officials from the Prisons Officers' Association, Irish Prison Service and Department of Finance met but failed to reach a breakthrough.
The talks are seen as make or break, following the Minister for Justice's threat to close two prisons and put the running of two others outside the remit of the Prison Service if no agreement can be reached by January 1st.
The officers have been offered €10,300 each per annum in return for working 360 hours' overtime per year. However, they are concerned that should they agree to the deal they will be called into work at very short notice and may be forced to work more than the extra 360 hours.
The Minister wants the officers to agree to the deal in an effort to halve the annual overtime bill to €31 million.