Tamašunienė calls for higher pay for prison and probation staff

Justice Minister Rita Tamašunienė says employees working under employment contracts in prisons and the Probation Service should receive more appropriate pay, LRT reported.

She said psychologists and social workers in the penal system and the Probation Service work in high-risk conditions and face demanding workloads. Tamašunienė also said court staff, including judges’ assistants and secretaries, deserve higher salaries.

A pay rise for court staff is already planned, she said, with increases projected over three years and dependent on the state’s financial capacity. Tamašunienė added that she had expected a larger allocation for this year.

Judicial Council chair Danguolė Bublienė has previously called for a change to the courts’ funding model, saying judges’ assistants’ salaries should reach 50% of judges’ pay.

Tamašunienė also said prison infrastructure was in very poor condition. The ministry has approached Norwegian funds and begun negotiations, with investment expected for the prison system.

The comments come as the government’s draft 2027 budget is before parliament. It projects a public-sector deficit of 3.8% of GDP and state debt of 48.2% of GDP. President Gitanas Nausėda has criticised the government for not presenting a concrete plan to reduce the deficit, which is expected to exceed the European Union’s 3% limit. The draft allocates more than 4.8 billion euros, or 5% of GDP, to defence and includes planned increases to pensions, the minimum monthly wage, social benefits and public-sector salaries. It forecasts 22.2 billion euros in revenue and 27.9 billion euros in spending. The first reading is scheduled for November 19 and the second for December 1.