I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this matter which is of great urgency. I am particularly heartened to see the Minister for Justice and Equality here. She has a reputation for being considerate, caring, courteous and credible and I appeal to these attributes. I ask her to intervene personally, as the Minister responsible, in a festering dispute between the Irish Prison Service and the Prison Officers Association, POA. Prison officers believe they are being backed into a corner and have no option but to take a stand and ballot for industrial action. I agree with them. They have given everything possible. They have made savings of €21 million, under the Croke Park agreement, which the Minister’s predecessor and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, can verify. Under the Haddington Road agreement they have made further verifiable savings of €11.5 million. They are not afraid of reform or change.

It is now, however, hard to distinguish in the prison system between who is serving the community, serving the country and serving time. Prison officers believe their health, safety and well-being are being put at risk by attempts to unilaterally introduce new work practices and changes without proper recourse to negotiation and reasonable, meaningful consultation with their representative body, the POA. There is a belief, which is not posturing, among the prison officers on the ground that there is an attempt by elements within the Irish Prison Service to sideline and marginalise the POA in order that it has no function or role in proper, adequate and reasonable negotiation for any change. That is not acceptable.

Will the Minister call off the attack dogs within the Irish Prison Service who are putting prison officers’ health and safety at risk by their attitude to what would normally be addressed through meaningful consultation and negotiation? There are security staff on the Luas wearing stab vests and equipment. At Heuston Station, a peaceful concourse, there are security staff with better equipment and stab vests than the prison officers have when dealing with serious criminals who are becoming increasingly violent and vicious. This is not acceptable but the industrial action which is looming in prisons will be dangerous. The country does not need this. It is not a question of stab vests but of prison officers believing, not without foundation, that they are being stabbed in the back by elements within their own management who are putting their safety, well-being and welfare at risk, perhaps to further their own careers within the Department and the Irish Prison Service.

This issue can be defused and solved if the Minister intervenes because all it requires is common sense and fair play to acknowledge and accept that the prison officers are involved daily in a very attritional, dangerous, difficult and challenging working environment. They do not need to be backed into a corner and for their job and stress to be added to by their own management which has a duty of care and responsibility to ensure their health, safety and welfare seems to be at odds with this and drawing the POA into confrontation. The POA has no choice in this instance but to ballot for strike action. I strongly urge the Minister to intervene and defuse the issue.

I thank the Senator for raising this issue and affording me the opportunity to address the House and outline some details and factual points relating to the issues he mentioned and the staffing of the Irish Prison Service. I acknowledge the work done by everyone in the prison system and many of the reforms that have been carried out in recent times. I pay tribute to everybody who has been involved in that regard.

I refer to staff numbers. The factual position is that prisoner numbers have reduced by 814, or 18%, since February 2011. We have had a 3% reduction in prison staff over the same period. As I said, I accept the point that significant reform has been implemented in the Irish Prison Service. That has served to modernise the service and anyone who visits our prisons can see this. We have also had quite serious capital investment in our prisons, which is ongoing and has led to significant improvements, something which is acknowledged not just nationally, but internationally. The goal has been to modernise the service so that it operates in the most effective and efficient way possible while allowing the service to operate with reduced staffing levels and ensure the safety of all prison service personnel. I will say more on that issue shortly.

I pay tribute to all involved in these important changes. The driving force behind the progress made to date has been the constructive engagement and consultation between management and the Prison Officers Association on all aspects of the reform process under the joint task reviews, as has been agreed under the Croke Park agreement. I have heard what the Senator had to say and want to see the constructive engagement and consultation continue. It would be in the interests of everybody who works in the service and the country, as well as having a properly functioning Irish Prison Service. I have discussed this matter with management and Irish Prison Service management is fully committed to ensuring that staff have a safe and dignified environment in which to work in order to carry out their important duties. They have to take difficult decisions, which I acknowledg. Much of the work is based on critical risk assessment on an ongoing basis by all involved.

A key commitment in the strategic plan of the Irish Prison Service for 2012 to 2014 is the dignity at work programme. It was a major change programme concerned with improving the workplace to the benefit of staff. A number of areas have been addressed under it, including communication, professional development, training, equality and diversity, well-being at work and acceptable behaviour. There have been quite a number of initiatives under the programme, including a well-being at work policy, a framework to promote the well-being of staff; the establishment of local workplace forums; and improving communication and consultation with front-line staff. That is what I want to see happening and what will lead to the best workplace atmosphere for all concerned. I recognise these achievements, but the fact remains that significant savings and reforms, as set out in the Haddington Road agreement, have yet to be achieved to ensure the sector delivers on its commitments. As the Senator knows, there is a whole-of-government approach to the agreement and making sure what was agreed is delivered. How we move forward in respect of the outstanding issues is probably the crux of the matter.

A number of implementation issues have arisen in respect of the Croke Park and Haddington Road agreements in recent months, but I assure the Senator that management has at all times continued to engage with the Prison Officers Association on these issues through the well established mechanisms contained within the agreements which provide the appropriate framework for parties to address and resolve issues of implementation as they arise, including extensive discussions under the chairmanship of the LRC.

I am keeping these matters under review and discussion with the director general of the Irish Prison Service and his management team. I have had contact with the general secretary of the Prison Officers Association in which I reaffirmed the commitment of Irish Prison Service management to continuing to engage with the association. The Senator said the Prison Officers Association was not afraid of reform or change and I welcome that comment. I repeat that management is committed to working with the association. I want to see a continuation of the engagement and consultation which has been taking place.

The Senator used some phrases relating to the management position which are not accurate. I do believe management is interested in fair play and working with the association and I do not want to see further confrontation between prison officers and management. I would like to see both sides engaging and working together constructively to bring about a resolution of the outstanding issues under the Croke Park and Haddington Road agreements.

I thank the Senator for giving me the opportunity to deal with the issues and outline the position from my perspective.

I have every confidence in the Minister and trust her bona fides and perspective in the matter. I urge her to hold a direct meeting with the POA at the earliest opportunity. I accept that I used strong language, but I do not do so lightly. It is informed by ongoing representations I am receiving from prison officers in Portlaoise and across the country. I do not want to be inflammatory but in some cases they are fearing for their lives such is the attritional, dangerous and violent character of the prison regime as it has now become. A reduction in prisoner numbers is not, in itself, the issue. I am heartened to hear that the Minister is committed to ongoing consultation and change by negotiation because the POA does not get that sense from elements within the Irish Prison Service at this juncture. Trust has broken down and needs to be restored.

I urge the Prison Officers Association to continue to work in a collaborative manner and hope the Senator will encourage it to do so in the course of his dealings with it. Some of his language is very strong and is not reflective of the management position. Management is committed to consultation and discussion on the outstanding issues. It is extremely important they continue to work together to deal with the outstanding issues.

On safety, I realise there was an incident recently. The safety and security of staff in the prison service are of paramount concern to me. I have asked for a full report on the incident which I will review to see if there are further actions we can take to make sure we have the appropriate security measures for all staff.