The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, is to hold a series of meetings with the Prison Officers' Association (POA) in an effort to end the "overtime culture" amongst prison officers in Irish jails.
The Minister believes the high levels of overtime paid to prison officers is a burden to both the taxpayer and prison officers.
A spokesman for the Minister said last night that tackling the overtime bill was now a priority for Mr McDowell.
The annual overtime bill in Irish prisons is around €60 million.Prison officers earn, on average, more than €19,000 overtime per year, much more than any other group within the public sector. Some officers are earning far in excess of that figure. Much of the overtime is compulsory, with some officers working up to 70 hours a week and earning more than a prison governor. On average, prison officers earned €1,105 per week in the 12 months to March 2002, according to data from the Central Statistics Office.
When overtime is stripped out, the prison officers earned an average of €734 per week.
This means each prison officer earned €371 in overtime every week, or €19,292 per year each.
Contact with the POA on the issue has already been made and talks will go ahead "sooner rather than later", the Minister's spokesman said.
"This is not something that is going to take a long time to happen, the process has already begun," he said.
The head of the Irish Prison Service, Mr Sean Aylward, has said he would favour an end to the current system where prison officers are left no choice but to work long hours of overtime.
It is understood any changes to the current system may result in prison officers receiving compensation payments in return for a move to "annualised hours".
However, with a cap having been placed on the numbers employed in the public sector, it was not clear how the prison service would cope without considerable overtime being worked.
Speaking yesterday at the presentation of long service medals to staff of the Irish Prison Service, Mr McDowell said in recent years considerable work had been done in "reviewing our organisation and the delivery of tasks".
"This has culminated in a proposal which will herald a quantum leap forward for the Prison Service in the way it does its business.
"For years, outdated practices and agreements have constrained the service from delivering a more efficient, cost-effective service," he said.
"The overtime culture which has reinforced many of our problems in this area has become a burden not only on the taxpayer but also on prison staff who have increasingly signalled their concern for a better lifestyle balance which current overtime requirements frustrate."
The Minister said the Prison Service was now facing a "change agenda".
"This new era for the Prison Service will herald an opportunity to develop a greater sense of partnership between staff and management at local and national levels.
