Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I draw the attention of the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs to a provision in the Bill which is very relevant to ongoing events. Section 2 states: "the office of the public service that is staffed by civil servants of the State" and section 8 provides that any civil servant transferred to the Houses of the Oireachtas becomes a civil servant of the State. I accept this provision cannot be changed now but I wish to draw attention to the language used, which I think should go out the window. Irrespective of whether one is a teacher, nurse or civil servant, one should be called "public servant". This is a stumbling block to proper reform of the public service so that people can transfer to various areas. I guarantee that hardly a Member of the Cabinet could explain without prompting the difference between "civil servant" and "civil servant of the State". I know the difference because it is my business to do so and the Minister of State's officials will also understand the issue. This is another instance of constructing walls around fiefdoms. Reform of the public sector will be undermined by these silly matters because people will be rushing to the courts to argue their contracts say they are this and not that. These titles should all be changed to "public servant".