No benefits for those not signed up to Croke Park

GOVERNMENT commitments in the Croke Park agreement on entitlements to overall pay rates, job security and superannuation “do not apply to any public servant who is represented by any union or association that has not accepted the agreement”, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan has warned.

He also said that if the “necessary sustainable savings” were not achieved through the agreement, “the Government is of the view that further cost-saving measures will be necessary to achieve those reductions”.

“A number of options will be available to the Government in those circumstances to reduce the cost of the overall pay bill.”

During finance questions Fine Gael spokesman Michael Noonan told the Minister he understood this to mean that “if the savings envisaged under the Croke Park agreement on the public pay bill are not achieved, you will have straight pay cuts if you happen to be around at end of quarter three”.

Mr Noonan said the EU and IMF “state absolutely bluntly that if you don’t achieve the targets under the Croke Park agreement which are envisaged, that you will have to cut public service pay”.

He asked: “Have you worked out the process, the procedure and the legal base for possible future cuts in public service pay or is that something you have put on the backburner until there is a change in government?”

Mr Lenihan said: “We will seek to reduce the cost of the public service payroll through reductions in numbers and a very clear schedule of numbers is outlined” in the National Recovery Plan.

“But were those savings not to be secured in accordance with the book of estimates, then the ultimate option of other methods to reduce the cost of the public service bill will be resorted to.

“This was made clear in the National Recovery Plan. I have made it clear on many occasions, both since and before the agreement, that the agreement must deliver the necessary savings and the Government, any government, whatever government is in office at the time, will have to take measures to ensure the costs are contained accordingly.”

In the Dáil Mr Lenihan warned trade unions and representative bodies opposed to the Croke Park agreement that entitlements would not apply to public servants they represent.

He said “any union or association in that position should now give careful consideration as to whether it is best representing the interests of its members in adopting that approach”.

The Minister said the Government proposed to reduce the costs of public services through planned reductions in the number of public servants and through greater efficiencies in the way public services were delivered. The savings targets for 2011 were set out in the Budget estimates and now formed part of the allocation for each department and agency in the coming year.

The savings targets are based on an overall reduction of public service numbers to 301,000 by the end of 2011.