Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 177, Standing Order 131 is modified to permit an instruction to the committee on the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013, that it has power to make provision in the Bill for a new Part 7A in relation to sick leave remuneration, empowering the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to make regulations concerning the payment of remuneration to public servants during sick leave, and to make necessary consequential amendments to the Long Title.

I am tabling this motion of instruction to enable some amendments to be included in the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013, which will allow the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to provide, through ministerial regulations, for a new sick leave scheme for the public service. As the current Long Title of the Bill suggests, it amends the 2004 recruitment Act to provide for redeployment of public servants. The amendments being brought forward are beyond the scope of the current Title of the Bill, so it is proposed to amend the Title to provide for regulations concerning sick leave in the public service. It is also my intention to accept, in essence, the suggestion of Deputy Fleming to lay such regulations before the House.

Deputies will recall that when we were dealing with Second Stage of this Bill in late September, I advised the House of my intention to bring forward provisions relating to sick leave on Report Stage. I thank the House for its co-operation in facilitating the bringing forward of this motion to include these amendments on Report Stage of the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013. The amendments, which will be inserted as Part 7A of the Bill, will enable the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to provide for a sick leave scheme that will apply to all public servants based on important principles and policies set out in the legislation.

Before turning to the detail of the proposed new Part, I will provide the House with some background information on the new public service sick leave scheme and the rationale for the proposed changes. As Deputies will be aware, the new public service sick leave scheme is being introduced following a binding 2012 Labour Court recommendation concerning sick pay in the public service. The rationale for the new scheme was the need to reduce the unsustainable cost of sick leave for the public service overall. This is to be achieved through a substantial reduction in the period of time for which paid sick leave will generally be available from the one year period available at present, comprising six months full pay and six months half pay, to three months full pay and three months half pay.

We know that in many areas of the public service absenteeism levels are high compared to best practice benchmarks, ranging from 4% to 5%. The direct pay bill cost of this absenteeism has been estimated at approximately €500 million and necessary substitution of staff in some sectors attracts additional costs. This is unsustainable given the severe fiscal pressures that the State continues to face. While the amendments being introduced today are enabling provisions, which will allow the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to provide for the new scheme by ministerial regulations, it is the binding recommendations from the Labour Court which define the parameters of the new sick leave scheme. Although the new sick leave arrangements could be applied in some sectors, such as the Civil Service, by administrative circulars, the Office of the Attorney General has advised that legislation is required to ensure that the new public service sick leave scheme can be applied across the public service, particularly as many public servants have employment contracts that are governed by contract law. In addition, and in accordance with the Labour Court recommendation, a review of the operation of the new scheme is to be carried out after a full year of its operation. Given the extent of the changes being implemented across multiple organisations and multiple sectors it is important that there is potential to make adjustments to enhance the operation of the scheme in light of operational experience.

Public servants have been aware of the intended changes to the sick leave scheme since the Labour Court recommendation in 2012. For most public servants, the recommendation of the Labour Court as set out in the new scheme will mean a reduction in access to paid sick leave in normal circumstances. The Labour Court recommendation provides for a reduction of access to paid sick leave for non-critical illness from "6 months full pay and 6 months half pay" to "3 months full pay and 3 months half pay". Having exhausted sick leave on both full and half pay, in certain circumstances an individual can apply to be given access to a payment that equates to what they might receive by way of a pension payment were they to retire. This is referred to as "pension rate of pay". I intend to replace this provision with "temporary rehabilitation pay" which is calculated and awarded in the same way and is only paid when an individual has a reasonable prospect of returning to work.

In addition, the Labour Court recommended that special arrangements were to be put in place, through the development of a critical illness protocol, under which staff with serious illnesses or injury of a specified severity might be able to benefit from extended paid sick leave on an exceptional and normally non-recurring basis. In effect this means that staff covered by the critical illness protocol would continue to have the same level of support that is available under the current sick leave scheme. This protocol, which is at an advanced stage of development, is the subject of ongoing consultation with the public service unions and has been referred back to the Labour Court for a binding recommendation on a limited number of issues. I understand that recommendation is imminent.

While the introduction of the new sick leave arrangements is very important, it is obviously vitally important that sick absences and workplace rehabilitation are managed properly, both for the benefit of the individual and the organisation. In addition to reducing the financial costs associated with sick leave, long-term absence from work due to sickness is associated with a poor prognosis for return to work. Indeed, the likelihood of successfully returning to work may be reduced after an extended sick leave absence. There is much medical evidence that being out of work for an extended period of time is associated with poor health. In general, rehabilitating people back to work after illness or when they have a disability is likely to benefit their long-term health.

I assure Deputies that the new scheme, as recommended by the Labour Court recommendation in 2012 and which will be provided for in the regulations, will ensure a balanced and reasonable approach to supporting staff while they are ill and unable to attend work, particularly in circumstances where they have a serious illness and medical condition which falls under the critical illness protocol, and at the same time to trying to reduce the significant and unsustainable costs of sick leave which I indicated. It is important to note that in overall terms, the new scheme will provide access to some form of income for public service employees who find themselves out of work due to illness or injury for a period of two years in total.

As we move through the Report Stage of the proposed amendments and the inclusion of the new Part 7A to the Bill, I will deal with each of the new provisions relating to the new sick leave arrangements in detail for the House. The central part of the proposed amendments are contained in sections 58(A) and 58(B), which provide the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform with the basis for drawing up regulations for sick leave in the public service.

The regulations that will be made under this Bill will provide for access to the amount of sick leave as set out in the binding recommendation of the Labour Court and identify the public service bodies that will be covered by the new scheme. It is my intention to cover all areas of the public service in the first instance. Specifically, that will include public servants in the health sector, the local government sector, the Civil Service, An Garda Síochána and the non-commercial semi-State bodies. The education sector will be joining the scheme at the start of the new school year in September 2014. This is the approach that makes the most sense for that sector from an administrative perspective as its arrangements relate to the school year rather than the calendar year.

The Permanent Defence Forces will not be included in the new scheme as there are specific issues arising in respect of the nature of the work in the Defence Forces. Notwithstanding this there will, however, be reductions in the access to sick pay in the Defence Forces.

The Defence Forces regulations are the appropriate vehicle for the amendment of their sick leave arrangements.

As I have already told the House, the policy objective, which is consistent with the Labour Court's binding recommendation, is that all of the public service would be covered by the new scheme. In any circumstances where there are bodies that are not explicitly covered by the new regulations, reflecting the complexity of introducing new terms and conditions across multiple and hugely varied sectors and organisations, this can be addressed through an amendment of the regulations in order to widen coverage of the new scheme where that is deemed appropriate in the future.

Although it had been intended to put the scheme in place by 1 January 2014 - I have indicated that publicly - in accordance with the Labour Court's recommendation, this would mean that I would not be able to lay the regulations before the Houses of the Oireachtas. In the interests of transparency and equity, I think that it is important that I do so. On that basis, I am delaying the commencement of the scheme until the regulations have been laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Deputies will appreciate that the State is not in a position to continue to meet a sick leave bill of over €500 million a year. A cost of this magnitude is unsustainable. Nor can the public service be expected to absorb the associated loss in productivity in light of the consequential impact on the provision of public services. The reform of sick leave across the public service as a whole is, therefore, a fundamental reform priority that I set out early in my tenure as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. I seek the support of the House for this motion, in the first instance, to provide a legislative basis for a reformed sick leave arrangement for the public service.

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