UPDATED 4.52pm: Corrections Minister Judith Collins says prison officers who were caught posting about an inmate on social media had let the department down.

The minister said she had been advised that five Corrections officers had been involved in a Facebook conversation about a prisoner last week.

Three of the officers were from Auckland Prison, better known as Paremoremo, and two were from Mt Eden Corrections Facility, which is staffed by private prison operator Serco but managed by the Corrections Department.

Collins said the officers had breached the prisoner’s privacy and the Corrections Code of Conduct. As a result, the department was investigating.

“Almost all Corrections staff perform their duties with professionalism and integrity and it’s disappointing when someone lets them down,” she said.

Mt Eden prison director, Dennis Goodin, said he became aware of several guards discussing an offender on Facebook on Friday.

He said these officers have been placed on special leave pending a full investigation.

The posts have since been deleted.