Written answers

Tuesday, 9 February 2010

Department of Finance

Civil Service Staff

9:00 pm

Photo of Joan BurtonJoan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 188: To ask the Minister for Finance the procedures that are in place or are proposed to be put in place following the passing of the Civil Service Regulation (Amendment) Act 2005 for the appointment of civil servants to Government Departments and their promotion; the powers that are to be delegated by Government Ministers to their Secretaries General; the powers that are to be retained in relation to Civil Service regulation; the powers that will be retained in relation to the appointment, removal and discipline of Secretaries General; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6403/10]

Photo of Brian Lenihan JnrBrian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will be aware that the appointment and promotion of civil servants in Government Departments is regulated by the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004. The Minister for Finance is responsible for all matters relating to recruitment in the Civil Service, including: eligibility criteria, staffing numbers, grading, pay and all working conditions of civil servants. The recruitment and promotion moratorium announced on Friday 27th March 2009 applies to the civil service; the Minister for Finance has the authority to allow for the filling of some vacancies in very exceptional circumstances through recruitment or promotion.

The Civil Service Regulation (Amendment) Act 2005 was enacted on 9th July 2005. The Act amended the Civil Service Regulation Act 1956 to allow the management framework set out in the Public Service Management Act 1997 to take effect. Under this framework, each Secretary General or Head of a Scheduled Office is responsible, by virtue of being the appropriate authority, for managing all matters pertaining to appointments, performance, discipline and dismissal of civil servants below Principal Officer level. Each Minister is the appropriate authority for civil servants at and above Principal level. The Government will continue to dismiss directly a civil servant who is the Head of a Scheduled Office or a civil servant who holds a position as a Revenue Commissioner.

The Act also introduced a number of other Human Resources Management (HRM) changes. These include the following:

· civil servants, other than those dismissed directly by Government, were brought within the scope of the Unfair Dismissals Acts and the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts;

· disciplinary action may be taken in cases of underperformance;

· any suspension pending the conclusion of a disciplinary investigation will be suspension on full pay;

· the range of possible disciplinary sanctions have been broadened to include suspension without pay;

· people aged over 65 years may be engaged as civil servants provided they are new entrants.

The practical procedures to give effect to the 1956 Regulation Act are included in a Disciplinary Code which is agreed with the staff side under the Conciliation and Arbitration scheme. With the new Act, a new Disciplinary Code was required to take account of the emphasis on performance. This revised Code was officially agreed in June 2006.

Turning to the delegation of powers and functions under section 5 of the Civil Service Regulation Acts 1956-2005, the practical implementation of the powers in relation to the dismissal of staff envisaged in the Public Service Management Act 1997 was constrained by the Civil Service Regulation Act 1956, which provided that all established civil servants hold office at the will and pleasure of the Government; and therefore only the Government has authority to dismiss them.

However, the 1997 Act provided for amendments to the 1956 Act, subsections 5(2) and 5(3). This means that, although the Government retains ultimate dismissal authority, the Government can delegate this authority. The amended section 5(2) provides that the Government may authorise a Minister to exercise its powers of dismissal in relation to an officer at Principal level and above (who is not a Head of a Scheduled Office, or a Revenue Commissioner); while the amended section 5(3) provides that a Secretary General or Head of a Scheduled Office may exercise the power to dismiss staff below Principal level. An added protection is put in place for officers at and above Principal level, in that section 5(6) provides that a Minister cannot dismiss such an officer without having received a written recommendation to do so from the Secretary General or Head of Scheduled Office in which the officer works.

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