Dear Taoiseach,

I am contacting you directly about recent comment made by Deputy Marc MacSharry about public servants. These comments were flippant, insulting and lacked any reasonable level of justification.

The members of the Prison Officers Association, whom we represent, are public servants and we deeply resent these unfounded comments by Mr MacSharry.

Prison Officers have made a massive contribution to the security of the state over the years – and have fully supported Irish society and successive governments in ensuring that all of us can enjoy a secure and safe democracy.

Over the last five months our members, as public servants, have worked tirelessly to keep Covid 19 out of our prisons, with one hundred percent success. This is no mean achievement and we are proud of the role of our members on the ground, in keeping the prison estate virus free.

I ask that you apologise to public servants, including prison officers, for these insulting comments by Deputy MacSharry and insist that the comments are withdrawn.

Yours sincerely,
On behalf of the Prison Officers’ Association,

Tony Power
President