Could the Minister say if the special security provided for prison officers at Portlaoise, arising from the circulation of the book of evidence which put a number of prison officers in Portlaoise at serious risk and guaranteed to those prison officers at that time is being continued at present?

That is a separate issue.

It is not a separate issue.

I am sorry, but it is a separate issue. That is not a matter which falls to be considered under the heading of the Garda presence at Portlaoise Prison.

I am speaking about the prison officers within the prison.

If the Deputy will stop interrupting me, he will hear the answer. I have said in this House, and this morning to the Annual Conference of the Prison Officers' Association in Mullingar, that the arrangements that we have put in place, given the concern underlying those arrangements, to ensure the security and safety of prison officers would be maintained at whatever is regarded as the appropriate level.

The Minister has not answered my question. I asked if the special security arrangements put in train at the time of the release of the book of evidence which contains names and information in relation to prison officers and their families are still in operation within the prison. The information available to me is that they are not available and that important security posts within the prison are not being manned by the Garda at present because of the serious cutback in finance.

The Deputy knows perfectly well that he is whistling up two separate things here.

Answer my question.

I am answering the question and I am sorry if the Deputy does not like the answer. He must then look elsewhere for satisfaction.

I want to get satisfaction and I want my question to be truthfully answered.

The point that I am making is that the security arrangements and the special arrangements that were made in relation to the personal security of the prison officers and their families are not a part of the security arrangements at Portlaoise Prison. That is the first point. Secondly, the special arrangements for the security of prison officers and their families do not consist only in the presence of patrols by gardaí in the areas where they live. Thirdly, that mixture of measures is monitored by the Garda to ensure that we get the desired effect from it. Fourthly I can assure both the Prison Officers' Association and the House here today that we are taking the measures that are deemed necessary to ensure the safety of these prison officers.

I call Question No. 4.

I want to ask just one final question.

This is the final supplementary question.

I have not received satisfaction from the Minister's reply.

The prison officers have.