Dáil debates
Thursday, 21 September 2023
Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate
Local Authorities
6:45 pm
Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The fourth item I have selected comes from Deputy Andrews. He wishes to discuss the impact of the ongoing industrial action at Dublin City Council. Is this about them not taking telephone calls?
Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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That is it exactly.
Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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There are a lot more than Dublin City Council involved.
Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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I was just going to say that. It is a nationwide issue. I am sure the Minister of State is aware that Fórsa members in local authorities across the State are in the middle of industrial action. As a public representative, I have seen first hand over the years the brilliant work the estate managers and area officers do for and across communities in my constituency. I know the pressure they are under. For instance, when estate managers are moved or move themselves or go off sick, there is no replacement for them. They are under pressure on the front line. They deal with residents in local authority housing across the city in public and private housing. Fórsa estimates that there has been a loss of 10,000 jobs from this sector over a number of years. That is how under-resourced local government is, including Dublin City Council and, as the Ceann Comhairle said, across the State. The issue at the core of this dispute is simple, it is how the management of local authorities has refused to engage on this and have allowed this to go on. It is beyond me. This should have been addressed a long time ago. During the years of the harsh austerity measures, these workers stepped up and took on increased responsibilities and duties. Workers are seeking that the increased duties they have accepted be formally recognised. A job evaluation scheme is a practice already common across Europe and in the North of Ireland. The health and higher education sectors in the South have already brought in this scheme. It is a process of evaluating each post, the responsibilities of the post and the worth of the post. We have seen the success of this scheme elsewhere; I cannot understand why local government management is refusing to implement the scheme. We must ensure that workers are given a fair and transparent process to evaluate their roles and ensure proper grading.
It should be made clear that this dispute is a result of the Local Government Management Agency refusing to enter negotiations with Fórsa, as was recommended by the WRC in January. We need to see meaningful engagement from the local management agency with the union. The workers have overwhelmingly voted for industrial action up to and including strike action. This is having a harsh impact on vulnerable members of our community. The Government cannot take a spectator's role in this dispute between the workers and local government management. Will the Minister and the Government intervene to bring about a fair solution that shows these workers are valued and respected?
Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I will take this matter on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O’Brien. To begin, I would like to clarify that under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each chief executive of a local authority is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority. Each local authority is a separate employer and the Local Government Management Agency represents the local government sector’s management in discussions with unions at a sector level. As the Deputy will be aware, it is the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform who is responsible for setting public pay policy and leading pay negotiations on behalf of Government. Fórsa submitted a claim for the introduction of a job evaluation scheme in the local government sector. Talks in respect of this claim concluded without resolution at the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC. It was open thereafter for Fórsa to utilise the provisions of the public service pay agreement and-or the State’s industrial relations processes. Fórsa has instead escalated immediately to industrial action, which is a matter of concern. Under the current public service agreement, Building Momentum, parties are required to abide by its terms, including maintaining industrial peace and using the agreed mechanisms for escalation of any disagreements. The Minister is keenly aware of the impact that this industrial action is having not only in Dublin City Council but in all local authorities. The Fórsa members involved in the industrial action in the local government sector provide important services for the public, to which some disruption can be expected in the time ahead. Government has engaged with staff representative associations collectively since the early days of social partnership to reach a decision on multi-annual pay agreements for public servants. Building Momentum runs to the end of 2023 and provides a 9.5% pay increase over three years for most public servants, increasing to 12.5% for lower-paid staff. Any new claims outside of the terms of the current agreement can be raised by the unions in future agreement negotiations, discussions on which are expected to commence shortly and will be led by the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform.
I agree with Deputy Andrews in relation to the concerns he raised about vulnerable people. I took it upon myself yesterday to contact the general secretary of Fórsa in relation to the action taken by Fórsa members in not dealing with councillors, Deputies, Senators or Ministers. We are all public representatives and we contact local authorities on behalf of vulnerable people. The Deputy, the Ceann Comhairle, I and everybody in this House will go home tonight, put the key in our front doors, have something to eat, watch television and go to bed. When I contact Limerick City Council or Limerick County Council, I contact them on behalf of vulnerable people, homeless people, people in desperate need and in dire straits. I feel strongly about the action or decision taken by Fórsa members not to deal with public representatives. It does not matter to me if somebody does not want to speak to me but it matters to the vulnerable person who contacted me and needs my help, or Deputy Andrews's help or representation or mine to achieve whatever they need from their local authority. To Fórsa and the people who have taken the decision not to engage with public representatives, I say it is not hurting public representatives, it is hurting the vulnerable people we seek to impact. I ask them to reconsider.
Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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I agree that this affects all of us in the House. It is an important issue because, like Deputy Collins said, vulnerable people contact us. The reality is that management seems to be sitting on its hands and is content to allow this dispute to escalate. Staff levels are depleted - estate managers who work on the front line are not being replaced for months. That is the case in my constituency. The people to suffer are the residents in local authority housing and flat complexes in particular. It is the residents who are being made to suffer. The reality is that management appears to be sitting on its hands. It does not want a resolution to this particular dispute. Dublin City Council has also overseen some of the worst neglect I have ever witnessed. The conditions in which some of the tenants are living in local authority housing is appalling. The conditions are not acceptable and the neglect is ongoing. I have raised the issue in the House on numerous occasions of the shocking conditions in which residents are living and the neglect people in the south and north inner city are facing.
There is dampness in flats, raw sewage, gas and other leaks, electrical faults and rat infestations. The list goes on. As the Minister of State pointed out, it is neither he nor I who will be affected. Rather, it is the residents, who are facing more neglect. Management needs to be proactive on this matter, as does the Government. The Government cannot be seen as a bystander on this issue, leaving vulnerable city council tenants to face the current situation alone.
6:55 pm
Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. We are all on the same page. There is a claim and a dispute. The two parties to the dispute need to resolve the matter. There are established State mechanisms to resolve disputes and, to their credit, they have worked and kept industrial peace for many years.
A very successful pay agreement, namely, Building Momentum, is coming to a conclusion. As I stated, talks will soon get under way, if they are not under way already, to provide for a successor agreement. There is no reason both parties to the dispute cannot sit down and thrash this out. It has been done in the past and I am sure in this case it will happen in time. I would prefer it to happen sooner rather than later to avoid an impact on vulnerable people who turn to the likes of the Deputy and me and our colleagues, as public representatives, for help and assistance. We are finding the door shut in our faces while trying to help people.