Prison service Two to close in January
A total of more than 150 prisoners will be relocated from the Curragh Prison in Co Kildare and Spike Island in Co Cork.
Minister Michael McDowell received a very frosty response when he told the Prison Officers Association last year that overtime paid to their members would be halved from over €60m in 2003 to €30m this year.
He warned two prisons would close, and two others would move to the control of another state agency, if the POA did not accept proposals for annualised work hours.
The Minister wanted prison officers to accept an annual payment of over €10,000 for the liability of working overtime, with a one-off lump payment of over €12,000 also being offered to each prison officer.
The Prison Officers Association did not accept.
This evening, the Minister acted on his promise to close two of the country's prisons.
The Curragh Prison in Co Kildare will close on the 19th of this month.
Fort Mitchel at Spike Island in Cork will close on the 31st.
Over 150 prisoners and around the same number of staff will now move to other prisons.
Management of Loughan House in Co Cavan and Shelton Abbey in Co Wicklow will pass from the Prison Service to another state agency by the end of February.
And, a notice for tender will be placed next week in the EU Journal for a contract to provide a prison escort service.
The POA and the Prison Service are due at the Labour Relations Commission on 12 January - one week before the Curragh Prison is due to close.
