Northern prison officers staged protests outside jails today accusing the government of penny-pinching and hitting them in the pocket because of a security breach for which they were not responsible.
Personal details of 1,400 prison officers, including their homes addresses, were found recently on a computer seized by police in republican west Belfast during the ongoing investigation into an alleged IRA spy ring in the heart of government.
Four people, including a senior official in the Sinn Fein offices at the now suspended Northern Ireland Assembly, have been charged in connection with the police inquiry.
Many of the prison officers, fearing for their lives and the safety of their families, want to move home but are accusing the Northern Ireland Office of forcing them into debt to make the move.
Hundreds of officers today took part in the brief protest and Mr Finlay Spratt, head of the Prison Officers Association (POA), warned the action would continue until their demands were met.
The government has a number of programmes in place, including the Assisted Home Removal Scheme, to help with the costs of moving those in Northern Ireland under threat. A second programme for those wishing to remain in their present home meets the costs of installing security measures.
The moving scheme provides for legal costs of selling and buying homes, removals and an extra mileage allowance for those who end up having to travel further to work.
"What we are saying is that we have accepted down through the years that being a prison officer is a risk, that goes with the job. But this situation is not our fault, we are not responsible. This is entirely the employers fault.
"It all comes about because of the Government's haste in appeasing paramilitaries and putting them in a position where they could get this information."
The POA met Security Minister Ms Jane Kennedy for talks last Friday and failed to resolve their differences. A Prison Service spokesman said industrial action was not the way to resolve the dispute.
He said: "It is deplorable that prison officers should find their personal details compromised in this way. The Prison Service is doing everything in its power to protect their safety and security."
But he said "disruptive industrial action will solve nothing" and warned it "breaches the prison officers terms and conditions of employment".