Irish Prison Service will move to Longford

The Minister for Justice has announced that the headquarters of the Irish Prison Service is to move from Dublin to Longford town.

The move is part of the Government's decentralisation plan. The new headquarters is to be built on a site owned by Longford County Council. Building work is expected to begin by October and it is expected that the offices will open in the summer of 2006.

Initial plans had been for 129 staff to transfer to Longford. These numbers are now being revised upwards by around 30 posts because other elements of prison management including building services and purchasing activities are now intended to be consolidated and centralised in the new headquarters structure.

Mr McDowell said that the Government's programme for decentralisation would show substantial long term dividends for the whole country including the public servants and their families who would benefit by the moves concerned. The technology leap now taking place in public administration in the country would contribute substantially to maintaining links between different agencies and Departments in the future, he said.

The details of the move were announced yesterday as new figures showed that the Government's plan to cut by half the €60 million annual overtime bill in the State's prisons is on track - more than €4 million was saved in the first two months of the year compared with the same period last year.

The savings follow a decision by Mr McDowell, to close two prisons and transfer prison officers to other facilities to shore up staffing levels and reduce the need for overtime.

News that the plan is on track comes just weeks before a major Government review of all overtime spending within the prison service. Prison governors have been given strict weekly overtime budgets and spending is reviewed on a weekly basis.

Based on savings so far the overtime bill for 2004 would be around €25 million less than last year. However, around one third of overtime expenditure last year went on the provision of prison escorts to and from court appearances. When the courts are closed during the summer months savings will increase and by the end of the year the annual overtime bill will have been halved, said a spokesman for the prison service.

Mr McDowell last year described as "unsustainable" overtime levels within the prison service. He said the expenditure was happening at the expense of greater investment in prisons around the country.

When talks between the prison service and prison officers failed to produce agreement on an annualised package aimed at cutting overtime, Mr McDowell pressed ahead with the closure of Spike Island prison, Cork, and the Curragh Place of Detention, Kildare.

Plans to close Shelton Abbey, Wicklow, and Loughan House, Cavan, have been temporarily shelved while talks between the prison service and prison officers continue. The prison officers overwhelmingly rejected a salary increase of €10,300 extra in exchange for working up to 360 hours overtime per year. The officers fear the deal will involve them being called in at short notice to provide cover.