More than 65% of prison officers do not feel safe when working with prisoners, according to a survey commissioned by the Prison Officers Association.
The survey was carried out by two researchers from the University of Limerick. A total of 330 prison officers were surveyed and almost half said they had been physically attacked or threatened on a daily or weekly basis in the last year.
The survey also found that 86% of prison officers do not feel the Prison Service is doing enough to ensure their safety.
This is the first survey of its kind of prison officers and the POA commissioned it to find out how its members felt about their work and the dangers they face.
The survey found that more than three in five prison officers do not feel safe working with prisoners. Almost half said they had been physically challenged daily or weekly in the past year and more than eight out of ten said the prison service is not doing enough to ensure their safety at work.
Up to 87% of prison officers feel morale in their workplace has lowered in the past three years and the majority is unhappy with training, development opportunities and their working environment.
More than half of them say they feel anxious at work and more than three in ten have taken stress related sick leave.
Following the publication of the survey, the Deputy General Secretary of the Prison Officers' Association, Eugene Dennehy, has called on prison management to carry out an in-depth review of prison security.
Mr Dennehy said that if the Irish Prison Service failed to take action, the Prison Officers' Association would be calling on the Minister for Justice to intervene.
