Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It is important to be clear that this Bill does not provide the power to the Public Appointments Service, PAS, to establish, in any circumstances, a system under which employees may be compulsorily forced to move. That power is not devolved to the PAS. The Bill is designed to facilitate definitive voluntary cross-sectoral moves. It will not and cannot in itself force such reassignments. If cross-sectoral moves are agreed with specific individuals in future, including outside the terms of a specific collective agreement or post-Haddington Road, the Bill will also facilitate those provided that they are not in conflict with the overall mobility and redeployment policy of my Department.

People who are unhappy with the proposal to move to another employment should be able to appeal. I do not agree, however, that it is necessary to establish a statutory appeals system. Within the Croke Park agreement there is an appeals system in respect of individuals being redeployed within the health, education and local authority sectors. The details of that appeals system have been agreed between the social partners and within the unions, and have been in active use for the past two years. With this new facility under the Haddington Road agreement, where a staff member wishes to appeal a redeployment assignment, whether cross-sectoral or within the Civil Service, such an appeal will be considered by an agreed adjudicator who will issue a decision within the terms of the scheme, and must do so within 21 days. The decision will be binding on all parties and will be final. In all instances, the individual will be required to take up the position offered in advance of the adjudication process.