The Government faces tough decisions on how far it can go in trying to secure public service reform in return for a commitment on pay, pensions and job security
THE CHAOTIC scenes at the Passport Office over recent days could be a foretaste of what is to come across the public service if a deal is not reached between the Government and unions as part of the current talks on pay determination and reform.
These discussions have been under way now for over a week, but crucial issues remain to be addressed and it will probably be next weekend before it becomes clear whether an agreement can be secured.
Already, as part of the relatively low-level industrial action that has been under way for nearly two months, a backlog of nearly 40,000 passport applications has built up, while about 20,000 clients of the Department of Social and Family Affairs face a delay of one day from this week in receiving their payments.
In the absence of any deal, the unions are likely to revert back to their plans for an intensification of their campaign.
This could see schools closed for periods, health services curtailed, and strikes across the Civil Service and local authorities.
When the Government and the unions agreed to go back into talks 10-days ago, the terms of reference were sufficiently vague so as to be acceptable to all parties.
The Government said the talks would be about “the development of a comprehensive agenda for the transformation of public services and on a framework for public service pay determination”.
The use of the words “pay determination” got around the difficult question of whether the talks were about avoiding pay cuts in the 2011 budget or about the reimbursement of the budget 2010 pay cuts over a period of time. The careful use of language has also allowed the Government to tiptoe past the potential landmine of negative media comment about yet another “cave -in” to the unions.
For a Government which had enjoyed a relatively positive reaction from the international markets to the budget which cut public service pay rates by between 5 per cent and 15 per cent, the last thing it needed is any suggestion that it was backing away from these measures.
However, the moment of truth is now approaching, and within the next few days the Government is going to have to decide how far it can go on an agreement which would effectively trade staff co-operation with reform of the public service in return for a commitment on pay, pensions and job security.
The unions have argued that very significant savings, running into billions, could be generated as a result of a transformation programme and it is, presumably, from these savings that the money would be found for staff.
How such gains would be paid out remains to be seen.
Would there, for example, be flat pay increases or once-off bonuses, and would they be shared equally among all staff?
Whatever the Government decides on pay, it would seem unlikely to please everyone.
The chairman of the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Peter McLoone, has said that one of its main aims is to restore pay scales “over time”. This view appears to be backed by most union leaders.
However, Blair Horan of the CPSU, which represents lower-paid civil servants, has called for the cuts to be reversed this year.
The Government, for its part, has ruled out any rowing back on the pay cuts introduced in the budget.
However, in a memo to members last week McLoone said that the Government was “willing to review the pay cuts in the context of the budgetary situation”.
In recent days the talks have concentrated on whether all the unions were still on board for the draft reform proposals drawn up before Christmas.
However, agreeing a comprehensive reform programme presents considerable challenges.
The proposals include the introduction of a core 8am-8pm working day in the health service, an additional hour per week for teachers, and the creation of a unified public service labour market, allowing redeployment between the Civil Service and similar jobs in other public service areas.
In the health sector, for example, Siptu has said it never agreed to the transformation proposals in December.
Siptu also has huge concerns about plans by the main Dublin voluntary hospitals to commission a report on the cost benefits of out-sourcing.
Informed sources said a reform plan for the local authorities could be close, although it is understood there are some concerns among unions about out-standing agreements.
In education there are worries about how the proposed additional hour would operate.
Sources said it is very likely that some form of verification process will have to be built in to any deal to assess whether reforms were being delivered on the ground.
Even if reform proposals in all sectors are virtually finalised in the coming days, it is unlikely unions will formally agree to them until the outcome of talks on bigger issues such as pay are known.
And even before getting down to the pay issue, the talks will have to address thorny issues such as the Government’s proposed changes to pensions for existing staff and out-sourcing.
Most sources say that progress has been made in the talks. However the really big hurdles have yet to be cleared.
