Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the question. More than 1,100 allowances were notified to my Department under the review of public service allowances and premium pay. Departments were notified in September 2012 of details of the Government decision regarding the outcome of the review. Approval for payment of an allowance to a new beneficiary pending the outcome of the review was withdrawn from 31 January 2012 and was not restored where the review found there was no business case for its payment to new beneficiaries.

Following the review, sectoral management were instructed to engage with staff interests with a view to securing their early agreement to the elimination of those departmental allowances payable to current beneficiaries where no business case exists to pay those allowances to new beneficiaries, with a list identified for consideration among the allowances they should prioritise for early elimination. In addition, Departments have been asked to identify other allowances, including legacy allowances, for elimination. Departments are directly engaging with staff representatives on the allowances specific to their areas.

Labour Court Recommendation No. LCR20448 has implications for the decision. In particular, the court recommended that "the parties should enter into central negotiations with a view to reaching a generally applicable agreement on measures by which loss arising from the elimination of pensionable allowances can be ameliorated". My Department is working on proposals on this to put to the staff side. The Haddington Road agreement provides, and the unions have agreed, that there will be full co-operation with the allowances review, taking account of the recommendations contained in Labour Court Recommendation No. LCR20448, and the outcome of the review will, therefore, require agreement at sectoral level.

In cases where no agreement can be reached, the time-bound mechanism for dispute resolution through existing industrial relations systems, the Labour Court, conciliation and arbitration schemes or the Public Service Stability Agreement 2013-2016, the Haddington Road agreement, is available. Given that many allowances have been discontinued for new appointees to posts, the precise number of allowances discontinued and, consequently, the number in place, is dependent on rates of staff turnover across the public service, and I do not have that figure.

See this speech in context