STAFF CUTS:THE GOVERNMENT is seeking to reduce the number of staff working in the public service to 282,500 by 2015. This would represent a reduction of nearly 37,500 from the peak level of public service employment numbers in 2008.
The Government believes that by 2015, the reductions in overall staffing numbers will generate savings on its gross pay bill of €2.5 billion.
However, while Government expenditure on pay is falling as increasing numbers leave, the amount it spends on pensions and lump sum gratuities is increasing.
In addition to the €2.5 billion gross savings which will be made on the public sector pay bill by reducing numbers, the pension levy, which is being deducted from the pay of public servants, is generating €1 billion annually.
At the moment there are about 298,000 people employed across the public service – down about 5,500 since the end of March.
However, unions have warned that as staffing levels fall, the State’s bill for personnel provided by employment agencies is increasing significantly as managers seek to fill the gaps.
Siptu’s health division organiser, Paul Bell, said yesterday that the health service was spending €150 million this year on agency staff “to prop up the staff recruitment embargo or what is commonly referred to as the staff moratorium which is in place since 2009 and which has been reaffirmed in the Croke Park agreement”.
Mr Bell added: “It is deeply concerning that Government is misleading the public by communicating that staff numbers are reducing in the public health service, when a huge number of the posts are actually being replaced by agency staff with approximately 2,000 occupying whole time equivalent posts.
“In our view there is no value for money analysis [involved] and it is just a matter of dismissing directly employed staff no matter what the consequences for the service and, more importantly, for the patient.”
The Government has not yet provided an estimate on how it sees the numbers in the public service reducing on a year-by-year basis until 2015.
Nor has it provided a breakdown on how many people will be employed in the different sectors – the Civil Service, health service, local authorities and State agencies – although this information may be provided in the budget.
However, it is widely expected there will be a surge in the number of departures from the public service in advance of next February, when a grace period allowing staff to retire on their pre-pay cut pension terms is due to expire.
The Government has not revealed the numbers who have already signalled that they plan to leave but there have been informal estimates ranging from 5,000 to 8,000.