Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

A lot of progress is being made based on the action plans that have been drafted. The Croke Park agreement is about delivering change at ground level in ways which will vary from place to place depending on the skill sets, mix of skills and numbers and all the rest of it that goes with the activity in which they are engaged. It is not a uniform, top-down approach. It is about working at management level with union representatives to make the changes that are necessary. The channels of revenue that are coming from the budget indicate the amount of money we have to deal with the issue.

The Croke Park agreement gives the flexibility to provide solutions which are not constrained by prior agreements or arrangements. In other words, it is about an engagement on the ground to do that. It is being proceeded with. I would love to see the process completed asap but we all know there are issues that have to be resolved. There are arrangements for quick referral upwards for resolution through arbitration of general issues that arise that are holding back any change process being implemented. For example, the Deputy will have seen the significant changes that have taken place on re-rostering of the Garda Síochána. That has been a major, long-term IR issue. Other changes involve staffing levels for new prisons and delivery levels in accident and emergency units in hospitals. Negotiations are ongoing on new contracts for teachers.

In the public service a new pension scheme for new entrants will be introduced. In the Civil Service there is agreement on a modern system for the management of sick leave designed to achieve a significant reduction in sickness absence rates. Some clearly inefficient practices on credited time and attendance patterns are being eliminated. Hundreds of staff have been moved from other areas of the Civil Service to social welfare offices to cope with increased demands. Staff have been redeployed to help process redundancy payments more speedily. More than 1,000 community welfare officers have moved from the HSE to the Department of Social Protection with effect from 1 January. That was a long-standing IR problem for years. That is a serious achievement in respect of that issue which many Members are aware has been a bugbear for many years. It is a significant move because it is cross-sectoral with staff moving from the HSE to the Civil Service. The Prison Service has opened new accommodation for prisoners at Wheatfield Prison and for female prisoners in Limerick Prison. Those new blocks have been opened with a new, more efficient staffing model based on the principle set out in the agreement. In the Garda Síochána revised rosters have been agreed in the specialised detective units and the traffic corps and to allow gardaí involved to be deployed more efficiently to meet demands for their services.

That is an indication of the sort of things that are happening throughout the various parts of the service whether in the HSE transferring to the Civil Service or within the Civil Service itself in the Departments of Justice and Law Reform and Education and Skills where we are seeking to make headway. The vast majority of the operational budget for the Department of Education and Skills is for wages and pensions. One is talking about 20% of the total budget in which one can try to make some progress. One can change work practices and get some improvements. This will be an ongoing process of change. The issue is that when management requirements arise in order to move things on because of the resources that are available the Croke Park agreement provides the umbrella framework, if one likes, in which people can engage and sort out the problem quickly rather than each individual problem creating an IR problem that goes back into the general IR system through the Labour Court and the Labour Relations Commission.

It is a very significant development, one that has the potential to bring transformational change in the public service delivery. It is evident that it does involve a cultural change as well. With good leadership from both sides in the public service very important changes that have long-term financial and economic benefits and deliver better public services in a more customer-oriented way is available to us if we continue to support and encourage the implementation of the Croke Park Agreement as quickly as possible.

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