Recruit Prison Officer

Salary

As of 1st June 2026, following salary scale applies to Recruit Prison Officers:

PPC €38,413.00 €39,7189.00 €42,789.00 (NORMAL MAX)

Entry will be at the minimum point of the scale.

Introduction

The Irish Prison Service is responsible for the provision of safe and secure custody, dignity of care and rehabilitation to people in custody for safer communities. The Irish Prison Service operates as an executive office within the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (“the Department”). It is headed by a Director General supported by a number of Directors. The Irish Prison Service is a key component in our country’s Criminal Justice System. It employs some 3,700 uniformed and civilian staff.

Currently, the Irish Prison Service estate (the Estate) is made up of 13 prisons; 10 closed Prisons (Arbour Hill, Castlerea, Cloverhill, Cork, Dóchas, Limerick, Midlands, Mountjoy, Portlaoise, and Wheatfield), the Training Unit (Mountjoy) and two Open Centres (Loughan House and Shelton Abbey). Typically, the Irish Prison Service manages approximately 6,000 people in custody at any one time, both male and female, aged 18 and over. Irish Prison Service Headquarters (HQ) is located in Longford. HQ is made up of five Directorates including Care and Rehabilitation, Operations, Human Resources, Finance and Estates, and Corporate Services, Governance and ICT.

Our Mission

Providing safe and secure custody, dignity of care and rehabilitation to prisoners for safer communities.

Our Vision

A safer community through excellence in a prison service built on respect for human dignity.

Our Values

Teamwork - We achieve more by working together than we can as individuals working alone.

Integrity - We must always have the courage to do the right thing, the decent thing, even when no one else is watching.

Potential - Everyone has the potential to be a better person, and we actively seek to provide staff and those in custody with opportunities to realise and achieve this.

Safety - We actively contribute to maintaining an environment in which staff and those in our custody feel emotionally and physically safe and ultimately, contribute to a safer community.

Support - We actively seek to provide supports to staff and support rehabilitation of those in custody.

These values foster and support the courage to make a difference in all that we do and to ensure that the Irish Prison Service is:

• an open, inclusive, diverse and proud organisation which focuses on teamwork and collaboration and encourages supportive and positive relationships.

• an ethical and accountable organisation where the highest standards are expected, promoted and adhered to and which is open to external scrutiny and adheres to human rights.

• a competent organisation where staff are equipped with the necessary skills and competencies to reach their potential, behave appropriately and have a clear understanding of their role in the organisation.

• a supportive organisation which promotes the safety and the physical and mental health of all staff, where staff are valued and recognised and there is a focus on “those that do” rather than “those that don’t”.

• a rehabilitative organisation which supports positive change, improved resettlement and reintegration opportunities for prisoners through targeted action and interagency collaboration and support.

• a more aware organisation where the rights and needs of the citizen, especially victims, are always supported, recognised and listened to.

The Prison Environment

A prison is not a usual environment for any human being. It is a complex and dynamic environment which has the potential to be stressful for both prisoners and for staff. The normalisation of the prison environment is largely dependent on effective management and on the development of appropriate relationships by our prison staff with our prisoners. Prisons operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. A list of all Prison Estates can be found in Appendix 1.

Our Prisoners

While each prisoner’s personal life story is unique, many of our prisoners have mental illnesses, behavioural issues and addictions. They have been subjected to sexual, domestic and social abuse, and/or have neglected their own physical health. Some prisoners have committed serious crimes. Some have come from disadvantaged and minority groups in society, and some have had little or no opportunity or encouragement to participate in education or training programmes.

Our Staff

In Ireland, recent years have required Prison Officers to undertake increasingly complex and diverse tasks, balancing their traditional security focussed role with a renewed emphasis on facilitating rehabilitative interventions that address offending behaviour. Prison Officers are the frontline staff who interact most with prisoners on a daily basis and as a result, have the potential to positively influence prisoners to engage in training, education, psychology and community in-reach services within the prison system. Knowledge of the legal framework which governs the management of prisoners and skills such as searching and restraint techniques are important competencies for prison staff, however, the most important aspects of operating as an effective Prison Officer is the capacity to relate to and engage with prisoners, act with professionalism, tolerance and humanity and the ability to role model positive social behaviour. Such traits stem from life experience and personal values.

Role Profile

Prison Officers conduct the majority of the face to face interactions with people committed to prison throughout their sentence including transportation from court; committal; safety; security; accommodation; supporting access to healthcare, psychology, in reach services, work training, education and visits by family friends and legal representatives; maintaining good order and discipline; and supporting their care, progression, desistence and rehabilitation in order that they can safely reintegrate back into their communities on completion of their sentence. Given that prisoners spend the majority of their sentence in the presence of Prison Officers, building appropriate relationships with prisoners and actively role modelling positive behaviours in general appearance, demeanour and in daily interactions with colleagues and prisoners are fundamental aspects of the role.

Prison Officers must always secure and account for every prisoner in their care, whether inside the prison or when on prisoner escorts. An overview of the wide variety of accountabilities associated with the role of Prison Officer, both within a prison context and across the wider organisation are outlined below:

a) Ensure the safe and secure custody of prisoners by

• Accounting for and securing all prisoners, prisoner information, keys and radios in your custody at all times.

• Setting clear expectations of behaviour for prisoners, utilising the Incentivised Regime Scheme to reflect the consequences of their behaviour and initiating disciplinary proceedings when the Prison Rules are breached by prisoners.

• Vigilantly monitoring prison cells and infrastructure for damage, tampering, breakage, or for potential risk of injury on a daily basis and report any potential threats to security or safety to the Assistant Chief Officer (ACO) and Trades Officer immediately.

• Monitoring yards, visits, gates, nets, external perimeters and overhead airspace utilising CCTV and other measures and reporting any suspect activity to the ACO.

• Quickly identifying and interpreting warning signs, indicators, changes in prisoner behaviour, routines and habits, regarding potential threats to the good order and safe and secure custody of prisoners and promptly acting to resolve or prevent incidents and communicating to other staff if there are any unresolved issues.

• Identifying and reporting evidence of possession or use of prohibited articles, drugs or substances within the prison.

• Preventing non-compliant and violent conduct and the unlawful escape of prisoners in a manner consistent with the Prison Rules.

• Maintaining familiarity with and rehearsing or implementing contingency plans in order to effectively respond to a prison emergency or critical incident.

b) Contribute to the care, progression, desistence and rehabilitation of prisoners by

• Actively role modelling positive behaviours in your general appearance, demeanour, in your daily interactions with colleagues and prisoners and by ensuring that decisions relating to prisoner requests are responded to quickly and the prisoner understands the justification for the decision.

• Monitoring and recording indicators regarding the physical and mental health of prisoners in accordance with policies and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and when concerns are identified alert the appropriate healthcare staff.

• Engaging and communicating effectively with line managers, Integrated Sentence Managers (ISMs), healthcare staff, psychologists, Work Training staff, teachers, in reach services, etc., regarding prisoners in your care.

• Supporting and promoting, in-reach prison community initiatives such as the Red Cross, Samaritans Listener programme, Men’s Shed, Gaisce, Toastmasters, Park run, etc.

• Cultivating appropriate relationships (right relationships rather than good relationships) with prisoners by setting out and maintaining clear security and personal boundaries and managing tensions between security, care and rehabilitative objectives.

• Providing evidence to investigation teams, inspection and monitoring bodies, courts, etc. when requested.

• Respecting, protecting and explaining to prisoners their statutory entitlements and human rights.

• Implementing safe work practices in accordance with the safety statement, ensuring that the standard of cleanliness and hygiene control in your work area is maintained at a high level in accordance with Irish Prison Service policy and identifying, reporting and recording health and safety hazards and work-related injuries and take any necessary action to eliminate, isolate or minimise hazards.

• Maintaining familiarity and complying with relevant legislation, policies, SOPs and orders.

• Monitoring your own mental health and the mental health of your colleagues, particularly in times of stress and following involvement in or observation of critical incidents and recognising when support is required.

c) Be prepared to conduct a broad range of additional tasks including:

• Operating Irish Prison Service vehicles

• Escorting prisoners to courts, hospitals, funerals, etc.

• Screening and searching prisoners, their property, visitors into prison, cells, vehicles, visiting areas and other locations

• Supervising visits to prisoners by families, friends and legal representatives

• Safely escorting psychologists, maintenance teams, probations service staff, in-reach service staff in the performance of their roles

• Monitoring prisoner written correspondence

• Assisting in the committal of prisoners and the management of prisoner property

• Verifying the identity and confirming the authorisation of prisoners and visitors to enter and exit the prison and recording these movements

• Supporting education and work training activities

• Implementing Irish Prison Service drug testing procedures

• Night duty

• Operating the prison control room

• Any other tasks as directed by the Prison Governor or a line manager.

About the Recruit Prison Officer Job

The Recruit Prison Officer (RPO) is the entry level to the Service and it is proposed to set up a panel from which vacancies arising in the Irish Prison Service may be filled.

Vacancies will be filled at Recruit Prison Officer level initially. Following the successful completion of 3 years’ service including probation and a Higher Certificate in Custodial Care, the Recruit Prison Officer will be appointed as an established Prison Officer.

Prisons operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As a result, Recruit Prison Officers will be required to work a basic 2,035 hours per year based on an average roster of 39 hours a week and will be required to work shifts including night duties, every second weekend, some public holidays and over festive seasons.

Recruit Prison Officers will also be required to work Additional Hours (AH) over and above basic rostered hours up to 360 hours per annum.

Working as a Recruit Prison Officer can be complex and difficult, but it can be varied, challenging and highly rewarding. We are looking for individuals who have the capacity to relate to and engage with prisoners, act with professionalism, tolerance and humanity and the ability to role model positive social behaviour. They must also have the ability to think on their feet in dealing with situations which require security and control.

Information in relation to the competencies required of a Recruit Prison Officer is set out at Appendix 2.

These include:

• Adaptability

• Information Handling and Communication

• Supporting Others

• Conscientiousness

• Directing Others

• Resilience

Age

Be at least 18 years of age i.e., must have been born on or before the 8th October 2008.

Nationality

You must, by the closing date for application to this competition be:

a) a citizen of the European Economic Area (EEA). The EEA consists of the Member States of the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway; or

b) A citizen of the United Kingdom (UK); or

c) A citizen of Switzerland pursuant to the agreement between the EU and Switzerland on the free movement of persons; or

d) A non-EEA citizen who has a stamp 4 visa; or a stamp 5 visa

Education

You must have obtained the following, by the closing date for application to this competition:

i. have obtained in the Established Leaving Certificate a minimum of grade D3 (O6 post 2017) at Ordinary level, or C3 (F5 from 2017) at Foundation Level, in at least 5 subjects*; or

ii. (ii) hold a minimum of a Level 5 Major award** (120 credits) on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ); or

iii. (iii) hold a recognised qualification (at Level 5 or greater), deemed comparable to the above in terms of both level and volume of learning as determined by Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI)

In certain cases, a Pass in the Leaving Certificate Applied may be deemed equivalent to a Leaving Certificate.

*A Pass or above in the Links Modules subject may be counted as one subject.

** A QQI Level 5 or 6 major award will have 120 Credits (Please note any certificate which has a lower number is only a Minor Award and is not sufficient to determine eligibility).

Note: A combination of two or more exam sittings may be permitted in determining eligibility.

Recognition of other qualifications

publicjobs may verify the validity of qualifications other than the Leaving Certificate with Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI). Candidates may refer to the National Academic Recognition Information Centre which offers advice on the academic recognition of foreign qualifications in Ireland.

Collective Agreement: Redundancy Payments to Public Servants

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform letter dated 28th June 2012 to Personnel Officers introduced, with effect from 1st June 2012, a Collective Agreement which had been reached between the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Public Services Committee of the ICTU in relation to ex-gratia Redundancy Payments to Public Servants. It is a condition of the Collective Agreement that persons availing of the agreement will not be eligible for re-employment in the Public Service by any Public Service body (as defined by the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Acts 2009–2011) for a period of 2 years from termination of the employment. People who availed of this scheme and who may be successful in this competition will have to prove their eligibility (expiry of period of non-eligibility).

Incentivised Scheme for Early Retirement (ISER)

It is a condition of the Incentivised Scheme for Early Retirement (ISER) as set out in Department of Finance Circular 12/09 that retirees, under that Scheme, are not eligible to apply for another position in the same employment or the same sector. Therefore, such retirees may not apply for this position.

Department of Health and Children Circular (7/2010)

The Department of Health Circular 7/2010 dated 1 November 2010 introduced a Targeted Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) Scheme and Voluntary Redundancy Schemes (VRS). It is a condition of the VER scheme that persons availing of the scheme will not be eligible for reemployment in the public health sector or in the wider Public Service or in a body wholly or mainly funded from public moneys. The same prohibition on reemployment applies under the VRS, except that the prohibition is for a period of 7 years. People who availed of the VER scheme are not eligible to compete in this competition. People who availed of the VRS scheme and who may be successful in this competition will have to prove their eligibility (expiry of period of non-eligibility).

Department of Environment, Community & Local Government (Circular Letter LG (P) 06/2013)

The Department of Environment, Community & Local Government Circular Letter LG (P) 06/2013 introduced a Voluntary Redundancy Scheme for Local Authorities. In accordance with the terms of the Collective Agreement: Redundancy Payments to Public Servants dated 28 June 2012 as detailed above, it is a specific condition of that VER Scheme that persons will not be eligible for reemployment in any Public Service body [as defined by the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Acts 2009–2011 and the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Act 2012] for a period of 2 years from their date of departure under this Scheme. These conditions also apply in the case of engagement/employment on a contract for service basis (either as a contractor or as an employee of a contractor).

Declaration

Applicants will be required to declare whether they have previously availed of a Public Service scheme of incentivised early retirement. Applicants will also be required to declare any entitlements to a Public Service pension benefit (in payment or preserved) from any other Public Service employment and/or where they have received a payment-in-lieu in respect of service in any Public Service Appointment.