Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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9. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will report on the status of the lifting of the public sector recruitment embargo as announced in budget 2015. [5782/15]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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As Deputy Daly has said, there is a serious outstanding issue in terms of "deferreds", as they are called, and their pension entitlements which many have seen literally decimated. Even if it is not the Minister's direct responsibility, I urge him to familiarise himself with it because a grave injustice has been done to people who have given massive service to Aer Lingus. One could not countenance the sale of the State's share without considering that.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy should put her question, which has been called.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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This question is about the lifting of the public sector recruitment embargo, as the Minister has announced.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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As I stated in response to the earlier question, the moratorium on recruitment and promotion in the public service will be replaced this year with new arrangements, giving Departments delegated sanction for the management of staffing numbers.  This will be subject to Departments remaining within binding pay ceilings and meeting ongoing efficiency and reform objectives.

Discussions are ongoing between my Department and all other Departments on the necessary structures and controls to govern the new delegated arrangements.  Once agreement is reached on these, formal delegated sanction will issue and Departments will have the freedom to recruit and promote within the set pay bill ceilings.

The moratorium and the ECF, in tandem with our reform programmes, have helped to deliver a more effective and efficient public service, maintaining key service levels as overall staffing levels have reduced.  However, as I have said previously, with the improvement in the public finances and growing demand for public services, the time is now right to return to a more normalised approach to the management of public service staffing and to give public service managers more flexibility to respond to service needs as they arise.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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I very much welcome any move in respect of lifting or easing the recruitment embargo. We have all seen at first hand the negative effect of under-staffing, including the stress on staff themselves, and the consequences for service users.

Can we tease things out a little bit? The Minister says that the function of recruitment will be delegated to Departments which will have to operate within their budgetary ceilings. Can the Minister give an assurance that other standards will also be applied and that, for instance, there will be no so-called yellow pack recruitment? Will there be an adherence to established pay levels? Does the Minister envisage that outsourcing will form part of this new recruitment and staffing scheme?

Will the positions be part-time in nature or will they be full-time, permanent and properly paid?

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Deputy raised a number of questions. I have indicated previously that over and above matters such as pay savings and the capacity to make decisions at front-line level, there are overarching issues in respect of which we have taken a whole-of-government approach. I refer, for example, to the recommencement of recruitment to the Garda Síochána, the recruitment of 1,700 additional teachers, resource teachers and special needs assistants, SNAs, and the appointment of health sector specialists. Total public sector numbers increased by 1,400 last year. I have explained this in detail at Question Time on a number of occasions. What we are doing is recycling what I call the "reform dividend", that is, money we are saving by means of the implementation of the Haddington Road agreement, into meeting front-line needs. Deputies warmly welcomed this when I first indicated that we would do it. I hope to be able to continue to do that in order that it will not be simply a crude numbers issue and that we will identify the areas in which real pressure, which we may wish to address, exists. In the context of so-called yellow pack recruitment, as has been the case every step of the way since the Government took office, any decisions will be made in consultation with, and it is hoped with the agreement of, the public sector unions involved.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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I take it that when the Minister commences discussions with the unions in the spring, it will not simply be a matter of dealing with pay levels and that he is open to negotiating in respect of the set of issues to which I refer. Two things must happen. First, there is a need for greater capacity within the sector. I do not know if the Minister would go further by acknowledging that the crude job of simply culling numbers in certain sections of the public sector had a very negative impact. Be that as it may, however, there is now a need for greater numbers. We also need an assurance that there will be appropriate terms and conditions for those who are to be recruited into the public service. I would like the Minister to indicate publicly now that he sees these as matters to be discussed with the unions when he enters negotiations with them in the spring.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Yes, those are the sort of matters that will be discussed. It will not simply be a matter of discussing pay. I am determined that we will retain the productivity gains that have been made in order that we might ensure sustainable public services into the future.