The Ulster Unionist Party’s Justice Spokesperson, Doug Beattie MC MLA, has voiced his disappointment and frustration that the Assembly failed to support his motion aimed at preventing prison officers receiving written warnings for inefficiency, when absent from work due to mental health issues such as PTSD.
Doug Beattie MC MLA said:
“I am incredibly disappointed and frustrated that my motion on Prison Officers’ mental health fell. What the Assembly has done today, through weasel words and technicalities, is to promote the idea that a mental health illness can still be viewed as inefficiency.
“Prison officers are affected in a disproportionate way by these written warnings, no doubt due to the incredibly stressful nature of their job, and the fact that they are still a target for terrorists, which sets them apart from the broad mass of civil servants. They are a special case because of the challenges they face.
“Platitudes from political parties who are only too happy to glad hand mental health charities for photo opportunities, yet who fail to take action to stop those affected being discriminated against, shows a complete lack of integrity.
“As usual, some people can talk a good game, but when they are asked to match their talk with action, they are found wanting.”