Senior prison officers have demanded an €10,800 yearly payment to cover overtime, almost €4,000 more than they are being offered by the Department of Justice in talks aimed at reducing the annual overtime bill.
In July the officers were offered an extra €7,000 per year if they agreed to work up to 300 hours of overtime, whether the hours were worked or not.
The officers now want that increased to almost €10,800, for 360 hours, for officers at the higher end of the pay scale, with corresponding payments for other officers.
The Prison Officers Association (POA) also wants meal allowances, more paid leave and bigger pensions contributions.
The association is unwilling to agree to the Government's proposal for annualised hours across the prison service unless its demands are met.
The plan to annualise hours was put forward earlier this year by the Minster for Justice, Mr McDowell. It is aimed at significantly reducing the annual prisons overtime bill, which is set to exceed €64 million this year.
The demands from the prison officers have emerged as key issues during ongoing talks between the association and the Irish Prison Service.
The prison service is currently consulting with officials from the Department of Justice and Department of Finance, ahead of further talks between it and the prison officers next Monday.
In an improved offer last month, the officers were asked to work up to 360 hours of overtime per year, at a rate of 1.8 times their regular hourly rate. It would mean officers on the top end of the pay scale would be paid around €10,300 in overtime per year.
However the prison officers want to be paid 1.85 times their flat rate, or €10,800 annually. They also want a pensions contribution to be paid on a large portion of the sum, and want to be paid for their breaks, which is not current procedure.
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