Negotiations aimed at reducing the State's annual €64 million prison officers' overtime bill were dealt a blow last night after the Prison Officers' Association (POA) said it could not recommend to its members the package proposed by the Government and the Irish Prison Service.
The association cited eight reasons why it was rejecting the offer, but insisted it was committed to finding a workable solution on the issue.
The officers have been offered an annual payment of up to €10,300 if they agree to work 360 hours of overtime every year. The money will be paid even if the hours are not worked.
However, the prison officers say they are concerned that attendance requirements under the deal are unpredictable. They claim the issue of "short-term call-ins" has not been addressed, and that the level of roster flexibility being demanded is unacceptable.
Last night the POA said management's concept of annualised hours was "flawed".
It claimed the payment of the annual sum was contingent on several factors around cost-savings which prison officers do not directly control.
It is also unhappy about a proposal to recruit casual, temporary prison officers and says management retains the right to regularly review and adjust the level of additional hours.
Last month talks between the prison officers, Prison Service and officials from the Department of Justice and Department of Finance broke down.
Earlier this year the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, set the end of August as the deadline for resolving the issue.
A spokesman for the POA said last night the association wanted to protect its members from being forced to work more than 48 hours per week. The proposal offered no guarantee that the 48-hour weekly limit would not be exceeded by forced overtime.
The POA is to begin nationwide meetings with its members today before a ballot on the offer is held before the end of this month.
A spokesman for the Prison Service said it respected the right of the POA to ballot its members. Once the result of the ballot was known, negotiations could proceed.
It is believed four of the State's smaller prisons may be closed if agreement is not reached. These are Loughan House, Cavan; the Curragh, Kildare; Fort Mitchell, Cork; and Shelton Abbey, Wicklow.
