The new Minister of State with responsibility for public sector reform Dara Calleary TD has welcomed the agreement reached with public service unions this week. However, his jubilation may be short lived.
While Minister Calleary said the agreement between public sector unions and management will be subject to ratification it appears some unions are looking for the deal to be rejected. In highlighting the importance of the agreement Minister Calleary said it is “vital that we maximise the contribution that the public service can make to sustainable economic renewal and this will be enabled by the many important transformation commitments which have now been agreed by management and unions.”
However, the TUI executive committee have recommended a rejection of the deal and will put this to its annual congress which takes place in Ennis next week. The INTO is also to ballot members but the primary teachers’ union said it was the best available deal.
Minister Calleary said the agreement would be a key enabler of public service transformation and stated that he looks forward to working with public service management and unions on the implementation of the agreement, subject to its ratification.
The Minister stated that “my new role will allow me to co-ordinate the transformation effort across the public service and the agreement concluded between management and unions offers an exciting opportunity to create a renewed ‘fit for purpose’ public service.”
Minister Calleary acknowledged the role played by Kieran Mulvey, chief executive, and Kevin Foley of the Labour Relations Commission who acted as facilitators for the discussions and made an invaluable contribution in this context.
The agreement, which was struck in the early hours of Tuesday, has been described as “revolutionary” by Mr Mulvey. As part of the deal the Government has agreed not to impose any further pay cuts on State employees before 2014 in return for reforms in the public service.
Changes include the redeployment of staff and a longer core working day. Unions will also be asked to cooperate with cost-saving measures across the sector with an independent review carried out on these measures in spring of next year. If the savings made are deemed sufficient by the independent implementation body then staff earning less than €35,000 a year could be reimbursed a portion of their pay cuts.
Other measures agreed to in the deal include a voluntary exit scheme to reduce staff numbers and a new pension scheme for new entrants from January 2011. However, it remains to be seen
