Union members won’t pick up targets shortfall - chief

The union representing lower-paid civil servants has said there is no way its members will pick up any shortfall in the Government’s target for savings under the Haddington Road agreement.

The general secretary of the Civil Public and Services Union (CPSU), Eoin Ronayne, said it was agreed in the talks that led to the Haddington Road deal that the overall savings being sought by the Government would be determined on a pro-rata basis across the public service.

The Irish Times reported today that the Government had been told earlier this week that close to €200 million in savings which are at the heart of the health budget for the year will not materialise.

Under the HSE’s service plan for the year, the health service was expected to deliver €290 million in savings under the Haddington Road agreement.

On top of this the HSE plan also earmarked additional savings of €108 million to be achieved using further measures to maximise savings under the deal.

However, it is understood that health service management on Thursday presented the findings of a confidential consultancy report to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform which suggested that the €108 million target would not be met at all and the €290 million figure would not be fully achieved.

The consultancy report suggested a range of savings that could be delivered, but the most likely figure was about €212 million.

The report also suggested that 2.939 million hours in additional productivity would be delivered in measures under the agreement.

Speaking at his union's annual conference in Galway, Mr Ronayne said the reports relating to the potential shortfall in savings seemed "bizarre and extraordinary".

He said his members had delivered on their obligations under the Haddington Road agreement and that management should not think his union would go back to the table to deal with any shortfall caused by miscalculations in another part of the public service.

Mr Ronayne said: “You would imagine that management would have come to the table with their figures worked out.”

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform said: “Each Government department is responsible for meeting its budgetary targets for 2014, including payroll savings. As agreed during the budgetary process and at the Cabinet sub-committee on Health, we await from the HSE an implementation plan regarding these savings.”

Meanwhile, there is to be a review of the process that led to the election of the new president of the CPSU.

Yesterday, delegates elected Tony Conlon as president of the union and Joan Byrne as vice-president.

Mr Ronayne told the conference an issue had been raised regarding the calculation of the quota in the electoral process. He said the issue could go back many years and there was legal opinion on the matter in the union’s head office in Dublin.

He proposed that there would be a review of the issue and said if it was deemed that a recount should take place, this would happen.