Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Calleary. I acknowledge the significant amount of work that happened on public service reform in the pre-2011 period. I am aware that Deputy Calleary, in his previous ministerial position, played a big role in that. I acknowledge the quality and quantity of work that went on across that period.

I will now turn to the five questions put to me by Deputy Calleary. The first question was about differential pay rates. The Deputy is aware that we have a process under way now principally between the teaching unions, the Department of Education and Skills and my Department on this matter. Due to the agreement achieved between the Department of Education and Skills, my Department, the Teachers Union of Ireland and the Irish National Teachers Organisation, the current starting salary for a teacher is approximately €34,500. I am aware that on pay curves, there are outstanding matters between the teachers' unions and the two Departments I have mentioned, including my own. Under the terms of the public service stability agreement, we are meeting those unions to see if there is a way of moving the matter forward. Because he has as much experience of these matters as do I, the Deputy knows that one cannot move forward an issue around pay rates in one part of the public service and pretend that every other part of the public service will not expect the same change to happen for them. While this issue is principally crystallised around teachers at present, any change we make in new entrants' pay rates or in salary curves will then be immediately required and demanded by every other part of our public service and Civil Service. This is one of the challenges we have to work through in dealing with this matter.

The Deputy's second question was on the current HR practice within the Department. It is my sense that we are making progress with it. In the two years I have been involved in this work I have seen the accelerated professionalisation of the HR role within individual Departments. We also have a chief HR officer located within the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform who works across the board with all of his or her counterparts in every other Department. The progress we are making around mentoring and the mobility of roles has been enabled by the gradual upskilling of HR departments. We have further work to do. From engaging with the Public Appointments Service and the Public Service Pay Commission I am aware that one of the skill sets most in demand across our entire economy currently is for people who work in HR. It is increasingly seen as being a very valuable part of any organisation, be it in the public or private sectors.

The Deputy asked about vacancies in the public service. I will come back to him with any information we have across the totality of the public service. I do not have that information with me today.

My experience from dealing with this issue is that more of our difficulties tend to accumulate at the retention end than they sometimes do at the recruitment end. The retention difficulties we have tend to vary by grade and part of the country. I will ensure we come back to the Deputy if we have any vacancy data to share.

On the Deputy's fourth question on innovation and broadband, the changes that have now happened with the number of participants in the broadband process are a consequence of many occurrences, one which has been that we have had a very demanding and rigorous process. I am very confident that while we have one participant, the final decision on a business case and the management of risk between the State and a participant will protect the interests of our taxpayers, while also recognising the fact that broadband is seen in virtually the same way as any utility. People look at it in the same way they look at electricity or water and expect to have much the same connectivity as cities and other areas with a high level of broadband.

On bullying and harassment, the Deputy is right and we have shared the information in reply to parliamentary questions already. As to whether I believe there are any outliers as to how HR practice has been implemented, I do not. From attending dignity-at-work initiatives and from engaging in the seminars that led to the publication of our public service 2020 plan, I got a real sense that dignity at work and looking after employees is being taken as seriously as one would expect. As is the case with any workplace, the moment one assumes one is doing a great job in this area, one takes a step back. Anybody who is subject to any form of harassment, whether it is bullying or sexual harassment, is already in a vulnerable place in the workforce. As employers, we must always challenge ourselves to see whether we are reaching out to them well enough. As such, while I believe we are doing what the Deputy would want us to do, we are never complacent.