John Cregan (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 286: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if he will report on ongoing staff negotiations at An Post; the reason matters are being allowed to drift on; if he is directly involved; if they are being left to management; the details of increases in payment to the board and the chair; and the reason for same. [23751/05]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I have no statutory function in regard to industrial relations issues within An Post. It is an operational issue for the board and management of the company. The full resources of the State's industrial relations machinery continue to be made available to management and unions to assist in resolving industrial relations issues at An Post. I have urged both sides to make full use of that machinery and I understand that the process is still ongoing. The difficulties within An Post are long-standing and deep-seated and, therefore, obtaining agreement to a recovery strategy by all stakeholders has been difficult.

In regard to the non-payment of Sustaining Progress increases, in which An Post has invoked the "inability to pay" clause, the unions have referred this matter to the Labour Relations Commission, LRC, and the Labour Court. Following a hearing in the Labour Court in March 2005, the LRC appointed assessors to examine whether the company was correct to invoke the "inability to pay" clause. The assessors' report was presented to both parties in the LRC in early June. The key recommendation was for an increase of 5% backdated to 1 January 2005. An Post unions have not accepted this recommendation and the issue will now be referred to the Labour Court. An Post intends to implement the assessors' recommendation and will pay employees a 5% increase at the end of June 2005 backdated to 1 January 2005.

The Government decides the remuneration scale for the chairpersons of State bodies. Essentially, the remuneration package is dependent on the size of the body. Given its size and the importance of the services it provides, An Post is a category one State body and the fee level for the chairperson is €19,046 per annum. However, a higher fee level than the norm can be approved by the Minister for Finance for individual chairpersons. This tends to arise when a State body is facing particular challenges and the commitment required of the chairperson would be greater than the norm. The board of An Post would have no role in deciding the remuneration package for the chairperson.

The appointment of the current chairperson of An Post was made in February 2003 subject to payment of the normal fee for category one chairpersons. However, the chairperson sought an increased rate of remuneration in June 2003 arising from the significant time commitment that the chairperson considered was necessary. The fee sought was based on a rate per day that, when aggregated, amounted to an annual package of approximately €50,000. By this time, it was clear that An Post was facing significant challenges both on the financial and industrial relations fronts and, as a result, the chairperson of An Post considered that a greater time commitment than the norm was required.

The key role of the board was reiterated when my predecessor, Deputy Dermot Ahern, met the board in October 2003 and reminded its members of their crucial oversight obligations in regard to the recovery strategy for An Post. To reflect the importance of the role of the chairperson in overseeing the recovery strategy, it was decided by the Minister for Finance that the chairperson could be offered a remuneration package of €50,000 per annum which she has accepted. Members of the board at An Post are paid €12,635 per annum in line with Department of Finance guidelines.