Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It seems to me that the Department of Social Protection jumped the gun with its solo run on this. It jumped the gun on the programme for Government commitment. Nobody has any difficulty with a review. The existing policy, though, has been in place only since 2022, and I would not advise the Civil Service and public service or the Minister to take any example from the code of practice of the Workplace Relations Commission that applies, for example, to the private sector. That is essentially a charter for refusal for workers who want to engage in more hybrid work and have more work-life balance in that regard. I said earlier that the public service should be an exemplar in terms of employment practices, pay and terms and conditions. It is a very competitive labour market at the moment for the skills that are available in our labour market, and that will be very important as regards the ability of the Civil Service and public service to attract talent over the next few years.

On that basis, pending the outcome of engagement with trade unions and the completion of the work on the framework, will Deputy Chambers, as the Minister with responsibility for the public service, instruct individual Government Departments not to change their existing frameworks and policies at least until such time as their engagement with the relevant trade unions and the completion of this initiative?

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