INTERVIEW:The man in charge of implementing the Croke Park deal insists change is happening at last
THE POLITICAL system has to take responsibility for not insisting on greater change and reform in the public service, Minister of State for Labour Affairs Dara Calleary has said.
The Fianna Fáil TD, who has responsibility for overseeing the implementation of the Croke Park deal, says controversial issues, such as the elimination of time off for civil servants to cash pay cheques as well as changes to additional privilege days given on top of holidays, should have been tackled a long time ago as part of benchmarking.
He says the political system has to take responsibility for this as does public service management.
“I certainly will put my hand up and say that the political system – it probably did not challenge the transformation agenda enough. But now we are taking it on board.”
He says the moves to reform banking time and privilege days should be proof to critics that the deal is working and is being taken seriously.
Calleary strongly defends the deal on public service pay and reform, which was concluded with the trade unions last March. However, he indicates some unhappiness with the pace of reform.
He says that despite the strong criticism it has faced, the deal is already delivering in some areas. He points as examples to new rostering arrangements for gardaí and the transfer of about 1,000 community welfare personnel from the HSE to the Department of Social Protection.
“The IMF and EU Commission believe that Croke Park presents an architecture for a delivery of savings and huge opportunity for delivery of savings . . . To say, as has been said, that nothing is being done is completely ridiculous, a huge amount of work is under way.”
On the other hand, progress on some commitments such as the additional hour for teachers has been slow. He concedes this additional hour will not be in place when schools resume in January and says negotiations are still taking place. However, he would like to see the issue tied up well before the end of the current school year.
The Government has now set targets to be delivered under Croke Park next year – up to 3,000 staff will have to be shed and the first instalment of the plan to cut the public service pay bill by €1.4 billion by 2014 will have to be achieved.
It has also given a strong warning that if the much-heralded savings do not materialise by next September, other unspecified measures will have to be taken – generally assumed to be further pay cuts or compulsory redundancies – to ensure the new financial targets are met.
Calleary says that the Government has asked various departments to produce new action plans by mid-January.
He says that there can be “no faffing around” in relation to this deadline and gives the first official indication that a further voluntary redundancy package in other parts of the public service could be on the table in the months ahead.
Calleary says that while there have been “substantial achievements” made to date under the agreement “all wish it had been quicker”.
He expresses frustration that public service management did not use the time available after the signing of the deal to have their reform proposals prepared. He also says that the scope of some of the action plans “should have been more ambitious”.
Calleary says that if possible in the new year, he would like to set up a process to involve staff on the ground, such as those in social welfare or health, who are dealing with people on a daily basis to give advice on ideas for saving money while maintaining services.
He says the public service reform cannot be viewed by senior managers as just an “any other business” item on the agenda.
He says that it is the Government’s number one item on the agenda and this should also be the case in every department.
One of the main selling points of the deal to public service personnel was the potential for them to recoup some of the money lost over the last year or so in pay cuts and in the pension levy.
A review of savings will be carried out in the spring but it is unclear how much, if any, of the money saved will be given back.
Asked if he remains committed to the principle of staff getting money back, Calleary says: “The Croke Park agreement in its totality has been left in place after being reviewed by the IMF and EU Commission and they have not made any changes.The agreement in its totality is still in place and that includes – if savings are made – they will be considered for redisbursement.”
However, the Minister argues that only savings generated since the deal was ratified last June will be counted.
This means savings arising from the early retirement and other payroll reduction schemes in 2008 and 2009 will not be taken into account.
The Croke Park deal stipulates that lower-paid personnel should receive priority in any scheme to return money to staff, but it is unclear as to whether repayments would apply evenly across the board.
The Minister suggests that those making the effort to produce the changes should get a bigger share.
“If they are making the effort, co-operating with the agreement, and if they are making the considerable changes we are asking [for] in their day-to-day working lives, they should be given preference.
“Those who are not making any changes, who are not co-operating with the agreement, I do not think they deserve equal treatment with those who are.”