Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will outline the opportunities that persons in lower grades of the Public Service have been afforded ion contributing to the reforms of the public service as sought in the Public Service Agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50641/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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My Department holds Departmental Council meetings on a regular basis at which all of the staff unions are represented and they can place any issues of concern and/or any suggestions they may have on the agenda. In addition, officials from the Personnel Section of my Department hold bilateral meetings with the staff unions including the CPSU and the PSEU, who represent the grades of clerical officer/ staff officer and executive officer/higher executive officer respectively, to discuss any issues of concern they have in respect of their members.

Officials in my Department are always open to suggestions by any staff members regardless of what grade they are in order to minimise the impacts of staffing reductions on service delivery and lead to a more effective and efficient provision of services as agreed under the Public Service Agreement. Arising from one of these bilaterals the PSEU Branch in the Department canvassed their members on ways to improve efficiency and seek cost saving suggestions. These suggestions were reviewed in detail by Personnel Section in association with the management of the relevant sections across the Department with a view to implementing the ideas and suggestions where feasible.