The Prison Officers' Association (POA) will on Friday begin a postal ballot on a compromise pay deal put forward by Minister for Justice Michael McDowell.
The postal vote will conclude on August 16th and the result will be known the following day.
The POA has recommended that its 3,200 members accept the latest offer on annualised hours in the long-running overtime dispute.
The Minister's offer is aimed at cutting the prison system's annual overtime budget which has topped €64 million.
If the officers reject the pay offer, Mr McDowell will press ahead with a €25 million per annum cost-cutting proposal which will result in the closure of prisons and the privatisation of the prison escort system.
Under an offer already rejected by the POA, prison officers would have earned a salary of between €48,000 and €70,000 in exchange for working an average of seven hours overtime per week. They would also have been paid a once-off payment of €13,750.
Different bands of overtime were included in the terms of that deal. About 5 per cent of officers were to work no overtime. Another percentage of prison officers were to agree to work other bands of overtime hours per year, including up to 112 hours, 228 hours and 340 hours.
However, this was rejected in April by a majority of two to one.
Mr McDowell subsequently agreed to changes in the overtime banding. They allow up to 13 per cent of officers to work no overtime. Their hours would be worked by colleagues who wish to work more overtime than was permitted under the rejected deal.
The reballot date was decided at a meeting in Dublin yesterday of the POA national executive. The ballot papers will be available from Friday to any officer wishing to cast their vote. Ballot papers will be distributed next week by local branch representatives.
