Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this largely technical Bill. Perhaps the Minister might refer to the exclusions when he responds at the end of this debate. They might be mentioned in the explanatory memorandum. I have no doubt that they are covered in the legislation. I understand the rationale for making exclusions in cases of political, judicial and constitutional posts, special advisers, etc. Much reference has been made to the exclusion of commercial semi-state bodies, as opposed to non-commercial bodies. I can understand why public servants might want to stay outside the commercial sector because of their job security and everything they have. Having said that, individuals in the semi-state sector or in public bodies might wish to transfer to avail of the great career opportunities in Irish Water and other dynamic commercial semi-state bodies. Perhaps the employee and the new employer could find common ground in such cases. I wonder why such cases are not included here. Obviously, there is nothing to prevent people from leaving. It may have something to do with carrying forward pension entitlements. We have the ambition to drive down the total numbers in our public service - I note that the Minister is nodding - so I would appreciate it if some reference could be made to this aspect of the matter at the end of the debate.

If I were to compliment the Minister, Deputy Howlin, and his colleagues in the current Cabinet, I would refer to the manner in which the narrative with regard to the public service and the people working in the private sector has changed in recent years. During the last Government's period in office, which was a very damaging time in Irish life, both sides were somehow blaming the other for the ills that were affecting our country. That narrative has now been removed to a very large extent. There is a far greater sense that everybody is collectively responsible for bringing this country back to where it needs to be. Those who work to provide public services deserve huge credit for making the changes they have made. It has to be acknowledged that the people who work in the public sector and for our semi-State bodies always believed they had certain securities that were different from those enjoyed by private sector workers.

During the times of great wealth and growth in this country, perhaps public sector workers did not benefit to the same extent as some people in the private sector. I believe the vast majority of people accept that this country had an economic requirement to make reductions in the cost of the public service and the number of people working in it. All taxpayers are benefitting from the reduction in the cost of running our State and returning this country to economic sovereignty. While there have been public service pay reductions in this country, it must be acknowledged, without naming any particular country, that there have been much more significant pay reductions and forced mandatory redundancies in other parts of the EU. It has been difficult for people to take some level of pay reduction, but the reality is that jobs in our public service have been protected. That has to be welcomed.

Part of the narrative we have heard from Opposition spokespersons, many of whom are supporting this legislation, has involved a suggestion that people are being forced to move between sectors of the public service. I think people should embrace the fact that the concept of a job for life is being removed and reduced on a permanent basis. Clearly, all sides will agree there is no need to move productive people who are happy where they are working. There is great potential in this area, however. I do not want to be critical of one of the previous speakers when I say my experience is that people tend to have a far greater degree of flexibility than we give them credit for.

A Deputy mentioned how someone who had been a binman could not be a librarian. I would challenge that stereotype regarding the abilities of people who work in our public services. I would not for one moment suggest that someone who had been working in one sector of our public service should be forced to work in another where greatly varying skill sets are required. At the same time, the opportunities should be presented to people. We will find ourselves very surprised by the great degree of flexibility and the willingness to undergo training and acquire new skills that people will display.

I wish to highlight the position of the local authorities. While there has been great change, there is very significant room for savings and mergers in local authorities. I am speaking specifically about my own county of Cork where we have two local authorities. Both these local authorities have directorates that overlap very much. While I am on the record, I wish to state that I agree with the argument in Colm McCarthy's report that Cork would be better served by a single local authority, which would be a very dynamic and large local authority, although not the largest in the country. It would be a very significant local authority. In respect of the ability to transfer personnel, we already have two housing authorities in a very small geographical area and roads directorates relating to very small areas in the city centre. This kind of thing has happened successfully in other parts of the country. I believe there would be a financial saving to the Minister, which I am sure he is still very anxious to achieve. Most importantly, it would give the second largest urban centre of our country a proper, large and dynamic local authority that could compete successfully with any other region in the country and would be a valid and genuine counterweight to what we have in Dublin.

I will discuss a great feature of some countries that have been in great economic difficulty in order of where they are. Athens is disproportionately the largest economic city in Greece, the second area that is most balanced towards the capital in Europe is Lisbon and Dublin is the third. Any country that seeks to develop economic policy must spread it evenly across the country. In that regard, I suggest that it would achieve efficiency, save money and, as this ambition behind this Bill states, allow a good exchange of talent between people in our region and other regions. It would also be to the benefit of the citizens so it is a classic "win-win" situation. There may be a number of local authorities and Members from all parties who may not agree with it but we have an obligation to look to our citizens first and economy second.

This is a technical Bill and it is welcome. People should embrace it. I do not think there is any great fear from people in our public services. I reiterate that the removal of the battle between the public and private sectors has been one of the great successes of this Government and I urge the Minister to maintain that over the next couple of years because it has certainly improved many a family function and event in Ireland.

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