Over €56m paid out in prison officer allowances: PAC
Just five of the allowances paid out to prison officers in Ireland cost the taxpayer €56.7m a year.
The figure covers supplements paid to the public servants for additional hours, night-time and weekend work, Christmas pay and public holidays.
Today the Public Accounts Committee will examine the payments when it quizzes the Secretary General of the Justice Department.
Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness is the chair of the PAC and he says the allowances are often justified, but adds that they should be in the context of core pay.
"Over 40% of the gross pay of prison officers is made up of allowances and this sometimes baffles the general public and does the service a disservice.
"We need to look at how best to restructure all of this. Perhaps we need to redefine them as core pay expenses and allowances. In some cases, the allowances are outdated, need to be looked at and abolished."
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