Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy very much. The Haddington Road agreement provided for a range of significant reform and productivity measures including the introduction of the additional working hours for public servants the Deputy has referred to from 1 July 2013. She will be familiar with the details of those additional working hours.

Chapter 4 of Building Momentum - A New Public Service Agreement 2021-2022 provides that the parties to the agreement recognise and accept that certain measures introduced under the public service stability agreements, including the Haddington Road agreement, are considered outstanding matters to be resolved as part of this agreement. In this context, section 4.2 of the agreement provided for the establishment of an independent body to assess issues arising in addressing the Haddington Road hours and to make appropriate recommendations to be applied equitably across all affected grades, groups, categories and sectors.

An independent hours body chaired by Kieran Mulvey, former head of the Workplace Relations Commission, and comprising of employer, trade union representatives and independent members was established in April last year. The commitment to review this issue was a key element in agreeing Building Momentum, which also provided for sustainable pay increases across the public service over last year and this year.

I recently received correspondence from the chairperson with the independent body’s conclusions and recommendations. I have yet to receive the full report. I understand that the independent body will finalise this by the end of January. The submission of the final report and its consideration by Government is an important part of the continuing implementation of the agreement. The Deputy will be familiar with the recommendations that have been forwarded to me up to this point because they have been welcomed by a number of trade unions.

A number of steps have been taken in preparation for the potential removal of the Haddington Road agreement hours. A budget of €150 million to replace these hours has already been provided for in the budget for this year. I have also communicated details of the potential changes to the relevant Ministers and sectors to enable commencement of any necessary planning at sectoral level regarding the implementation of the recommendations, depending on the decision of Government.

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