Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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Question 266: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs further to Parliamentary Question No. 456 of 18 October 2005 if his Department expects to have the mechanism as recommended by the Labour Court in January 2001 implemented before the end of 2005. [37995/05]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Workplace regulations are currently either being finalised or advanced in regard to a number of areas of local staff conditions of employment. As mentioned in my reply of 18 October to the Deputy, the protections afforded by the Civil Service anti-harassment, sexual harassment and bullying policy, A Positive Working Environment, are being extended to all unestablished employees at diplomatic missions overseas. A circular to this effect will be issued before the end of the year. In addition to the above grievance procedures, it is also intended to introduce a local staff disciplinary code in all missions by the end of 2005. The purpose of this code is to ensure that locally recruited members of staff at missions abroad are dealt with in a fair and equitable manner in regard to disciplinary matters. A circular to this effect will issue later this month.

As regards the Labour Court's expression of concern that no formal mechanism exists for locally recruited staff in Irish missions abroad to pursue grievances with regard to pay, grade and related matters, the Department has been examining ways to introduce a more formal procedure, which would provide a framework for dealing with these issues. As I said in my reply of 18 October, the introduction of such a procedure raises certain legally complex questions. The Department is, therefore, actively conducting a wider review of all the issues in question, including best practice among other foreign ministries. It is hoped to be in a position to introduce a new procedure in all missions in 2006.