Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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187. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the reason some local authorities still have health and safety officers on the old clerical pay grades, in particular, Dublin City Council which has nine health and safety officers on the old grades; when these health and safety officers will be moved to the grade commensurate with their title of health and safety officer in line with the provisions of his Department’s circular which states that new entrants should be on the appropriate pay scale of a senior executive officer (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38418/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for staffing and organisation arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authorities for which he or she is responsible.

In early 2010, my Department sought to standardise arrangements for the Head of Health and Safety post across the local government sector. My Department issued circular LG(P) 05/10 in this regard which declared the qualifications for the post of Health and Safety Officer.

Confirmation was subsequently issued by the Local Government Management Agency (Local Government Management Services Board, as it was then) that the salary scale for the Head of Health and Safety post was that of Senior Executive Engineer. It should be noted that this applied only to the post of Head of Health and Safety. Other staff engaged in health and safety were to be graded according to the nature of their duties and the level of responsibility attending to their particular role and the application of their role and responsibilities reflecting the size and diversity of the activities being undertaken by an individual local authority.

I understand, in respect of Dublin City Council, that this matter is currently the subject of a conciliation hearing with the Workplace Relations Commission and is therefore being dealt with by the appropriate industrial relations mechanisms of the State.