Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

It would represent a saving of approximately €300 million.

The question of redeployment is critical for a simple reason. If one is aiming to change how services are delivered, it is clear there will be surplus staff as a result of the reconfiguration process. If a change is made in practices then it is a question of what to do with the staff in an organisation currently doing that work. Without a commitment to redeployment it is very difficult to have an effective and cost-effective change management process. An effective system of redeployment is needed in order to utilise the staff surplus created by the reconfiguration of services and by the adoption of e-Government and shared services, for example and to move staff to new centres of excellence.

In order to minimise the overall numbers required to deliver services at any time such a system has to operate smoothly so that staff can be deployed across organisational and sectoral boundaries. For example, surplus Civil Service staff in a particular location may, in terms of organisational needs and the available skills and distance, be more appropriately redeployed to the local government or health sector than to other Civil Service Departments or agencies. Many agencies are considering looking at their methods for delivering services and full co-operation with such reorganisation will be necessary. It would be essential that those being redeployed are not unfairly disadvantaged. Management would be empowered to require deployment under arrangements to be put in place in each sector. Where disputes arise as to redeployment, there will have to be a speedy and final method of resolution. Extremely flexible redeployment arrangements must be viewed as the corollary to arrangements that do not provide for compulsory redundancies.

A flexible redeployment model is necessary in order to avoid compulsory redundancy and to achieve a cost-effective outcome when making those changes. The question of common contractual arrangements is a detail to be dealt with in negotiation. As with any change management process, it is necessary to build confidence in the process and people must be brought along in order for the process to be effective. People need to buy into the process and to take ownership of what is being proposed in order for it to be effective. This does not mean that any one person has a veto on change because the financial realities are dictating what must be done. It is preferable to do so in a collaborative way and with everyone on board. This form of discussion and shared commitment is what we need to develop as part of the permanent structural change which is not only unavoidable but necessary.

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