W.P. Smith: Billie Smith retired in 1987 from his position as deputy general secretary in the Department of Finance after a long, distinguished Civil Service career. He enjoyed a long and happy retirement with those he loved, his wife, Mary, his seven children and 15 grandchildren.
Born in 1922, the eldest of a large family, he was educated in Synge Street and was awarded a scholarship to UCD where he read Commerce. After a few years working elsewhere in the Civil Service, Smith was appointed in 1947 as an administrative officer in what was then known as the establishments division of the Department of Finance, responsible for the general management of the Civil Service encompassing pay, pensions and conditions of service, as well as staff numbers in individual Departments.
The management style was autocratic, but the times were changing, and in 1950 a scheme of conciliation and arbitration for the Civil Service was set up. At the heart of it was a General Council for Conciliation with a staff side, representing all civil grades, and an official side, representing the Department of Finance. He woul be its first official side secretary.
Separate conciliation and arbitration schemes followed for other groups of public servants. The 1950s and 1960s also saw a huge growth in the number of State-sponsored bodies with their own agendas on pay and conditions. By the mid 1960s the pay situation in the public sector was chaotic, with "leapfrogging" claims common and no central strategy.
Smith, now a principal officer, was recalled to head a new section to develop a public sector pay policy. That he did so successfully is a tribute to his patience, tenacity and ability, particularly his ability to take the longer-term view and to take small steps that over time fitted together like pieces in a jigsaw.
He and his staff set about compiling a database that soon became known as the Public Service Pay Bill, or the Exchequer Pay and Pensions Bill. Government was now in a position to see the implications of its decisions on pay for public expenditure generally.
In the face of opposition, statutory control over the pay and conditions of staff in non-commercial State bodies was put in place, and the commercial State bodies were required to consult their parent Departments and the Department of Finance about major pay claims. The Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector was also set up, to review the pay of top-level posts across the whole public sector.
The opposition to these measures often took the form of arguing that "the dead hand of Finance" was stultifying innovation and expansion. From time to time ministers and indeed taoisigh would take up this issue. Smith's defence was always brief and to the point: at a time of high unemployment, staff at the higher levels in public bodies which were sheltered from competition could hardly expect to enjoy competitive market pay rates.
In his dealings with ministers, he was ever conscious of the Lemass dictum that politicians and public officials should never be too close. He saw his role as giving independent expert advice based on the public interest. In today's terms he might be seen as not politically "street-wise", but he was hugely respected by successive ministers and taoisigh, who appreciated the value of his advice, even if not always able to accept it.
He was equally respected by his counterparts in the private sector and by the trade unionists he came into contact with. The pay scene in the private sector was equally chaotic in the 1960s, when the government moved to set up an employer labour conference in an effort to introduce moderation into pay across the economy. The national pay agreement of 1970 resulted and was followed by a series of national pay agreements through the 1970s developing, perhaps prematurely, into national understandings also covering tax and employment.
In a decade marked by oil crises and huge inflation, these agreements and understandings, while open to criticism, maintained a degree of solidarity between employers and trade unions in what could have been a turbulent period.
Smith represented the government as employer on the steering committee of the conference, and together with Dan McAuley, the director general of the Federated Union of Employers (FUE), and Donal Nevin, the general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), formed a formidable team. The experiences of the period were invaluable when national pay bargaining returned in the late 1980s.
The word colleagues would associate most with him would be "integrity". In his official life his personal values came through, and his courtesy and consideration were unfailing. He was driven by a clear sense of public service; material possessions or financial gain were secondary.
Throughout his life he gave freely of his time, to the St Vincent de Paul, the Cheshire Home Foundation and his family. His love of Irish was reflected in his work with Pobal an Aifrinn and support for the Gaelscoil movement. He should be remembered as one of those outstanding public servants who, behind the scenes, put in place the building blocks on which the Celtic Tiger was based.
He is survived by his wife, Mary, and his children, Mary, Therese, John, Martine, William, Eddie and Eileen.
- Billie Smith: born July 31st, 1922; died October 31st, 2003