Analysis: The crisis in the prisons has been a slow burner, coming to a head after the best part of 30 years, writes Conor Lally.
It was during the 1970s, when five new prisons were opened in less than four years, that prison governors were forced to rely heavily on overtime to man the facilities under their charge.
In 1983 the dependence by the Prison Service on overtime became apparent when the State went to the Supreme Court to establish its right to force prison officers to work overtime.
In the O'Brien v The Minister for Justice case, which involved a pregnant prison officer at Limerick Prison, the Supreme Court ruled that the State was within its rights to compel officers to work overtime.
Throughout the 1980s and first half of the 1990s expenditure on overtime edged higher. This year it will top €64 million.
Six more jails have been opened since the beginning of the 1980s. The number of prison officers employed within the Prison Service has increased by 800 to 3,300 in the past five years alone, with prison population increasing by some 30 per cent to about 3,200.
Despite the unceasing expansion of the prison system no staffing provision has been made for the labour-intensive escorting of inmates to and from court appearances and hospital appointments, duties which will cost the taxpayer about €32 million this year.
In 1998 overtime expenditure in the Prison Service reached £30 million (€38 million). The Department of Justice appointed consultants to see how that bill could be cut, with no effect.
The following year the minister for justice, Mr John O'Donoghue, told the prison officers he intended to cut the overtime bill by 40 per cent.
Mr O'Donoghue said overtime expenditure was so high because of the inappropriate allocation of staff, and the lack of cover for court duties and annual leave. However, he left office in 2002 having done nothing to resolve the issue.
When Mr McDowell assumed the Justice portfolio he made it clear to the prison officers that overtime had to be addressed.
Last April, at the Prison Officers' Association annual conference in Galway, the Minister told delegates he was giving them 90 days to resolve the issue. He angered the officers by leaking details of his address to the media in advance of its delivery.
Delegates at the conference responded by walking out during the Minister's speech. It was a bad start to a process which has gone down hill ever since. The prison officers immediately began negotiating with the Prison Service. By the time the 90-day period had expired no progress had been made.
The officers were offered €10,300 each extra in return for working an extra 360 hours every year. The officers, who earned an average of €19,000 in overtime each last year, rejected the deal. They put forward their own plan last week which they claimed would have achieved savings of €30 million annually.
The Government said the officers, in their own proposal, were effectively looking for a pay rise. The troubled process ended last night with the Minister confirming that two prisons would close and the management of two others would be taken out of the hands of the Prison Service.