Written answers

Thursday, 17 June 2021

Department of Public Expenditure and Reform

Public Sector Staff

Photo of John McGuinnessJohn McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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137. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the most recent estimate for the cost of removing the requirement for staff in the public service to work additional hours which were introduced on foot of the Haddington Road Agreement in 2013. [32341/21]

Photo of Michael McGrathMichael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The additional hours introduced on foot of the Haddington Road Agreement are of significant value to the State and critical to supporting the delivery of public services, including in front line services in health, education, Revenue and Social Protection, where they are deeply embedded in their delivery structures. This increased capacity was evident over the last year with the agility, commitment and flexibility demonstrated by the public service in meeting the challenges of the Covid 19 pandemic.

Under the new public service pay agreement 'Building Momentum, 2021 - 2022', an independent body has been established to examine the additional hours worked by public servants under the Haddington Road Agreement.

The body will consider, and fully take into account, submissions made by the parties to the Agreement and will be tasked to report by end 2021. As part of the deliberative process, the body, will consider:

- The context for the pay and productivity measures within the Haddington Road Agreement.

- The quantification and verification of the additional worked by the Haddington Road Agreement grade, group and sector.

- Any associated costs with reference to possible replacement mechanisms, e.g. rostering changes, productivity measures, recruitment, overtime/premia payments, agency staffing.

- The operational, service delivery and administrative implications associated with any reduction in hourly work requirements, including the proportion of hours that support direct service delivery compared with those that provide indirect services.

- The manner in which additional hours contributed to more standardised public service terms and conditions.

- the varying application of the additional hours provision of the Haddington Road Agreement.

- Relevant overtime divisors.

Roll-out of the body’s recommendations will be initiated within the lifetime of the Agreement. In this regard, to enable commencement of the recommendations during 2022, on the publication of the Report, an envelope of €150m will be made available under the Agreement across all affected grades, groups, categories and sectors. In the context of the 2023 estimates, having regard to available resources, on publication of the Report, the parties to the Agreement will engage proactively in relation to such provisions as are necessary to roll out any remaining recommendations.

It is the role of the independent body to quantify and verify the costs and replacement mechanisms for any removal of the additional hours. However, IGEES have previously undertaken analysis of this issue published in the context of Budget 2018, which may be of assistance to the Deputy and can be found at the following link:

My Department will be building on this work as part of its engagement with the Independent Body.

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