Prisoner officers' 2002 overtime cover costs €8.6m
21/06/2005 - 17:24:57Overtime cover for prison officers on sick leave cost the taxpayer €8.6m in 2002, according to the latest report from the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee.
Irish prison staff averaged 19 days per prison officer.
The chairman of the Committee, Michael Noonan, said there appeared to be a culture of obtaining easy overtime pay.
"There's a very strong suspicion among all of us that a carousel was operating to engineer extra overtime by people going on sick leave to accommodate colleagues," he said.
