THOSE WHO shout loudest in this society tend to be rewarded. And a lot of shouting has been going on as some public service groups compete for a diminishing pool of Government funding.
A common feature of the fuss is a demand that existing structures and positions be retained, notwithstanding the Croke Park deal which offered greater flexibility and redeployment as a trade-off against forced redundancies and pay cuts.
Many services will be curtailed because of the number of public servants applying for early retirement. That is as inevitable as the parallel requirement to reduce Government borrowing from its present unsustainable level. The number of redundancies involved, ranging from 7,700 to 6,600, depends on whether applications were received within three months or one month of the cut-off date. And some people may yet change their minds. The rush for the door was not unexpected. Last December Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin indicated the number of retirements was likely to reach 9,000 this year, the majority under the scheme. That figure may not be reached, but the Government has said it will “back-fill” up to 3,000 positions.
Loss of experience and ability will pose serious difficulties. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a preponderance of applications may have come from frontline staff. Because of that, Minister for Health James Reilly has indicated that some individuals may be re-employed on contract or through agencies. That represents a key weakness of the Croke Park deal: all those who apply for redundancy, no matter how vital to the organisation, cannot be refused. Projected “savings” may prove to be illusory, if staff are subsequently re-employed.
Being positive can help public confidence. But Taoiseach Enda Kenny lost the run of himself last Sunday when he talked about “transition teams” managing the exodus from State services. Arrangements had, indeed, been put in place. But hard information was still awaited. Talk of dedicated “transition teams” and their imputed activity amounted to political spin. The challenges facing civil and public services are being assessed. A formal report will go to Cabinet next Tuesday. Only then will the early retirement ratios between managers and specialists, frontline and back room staff, become known.
The value, or otherwise, of the Croke Park deal will be formally tested when Ministers and managers seek to restructure services, introduce flexible working arrangements and reallocate staff. Mr Howlin has defended it on the grounds it is delivering industrial peace at a time of extensive downsizing and reform. In recent days, serious public pressure has been exerted to protect and perpetuate some existing structures and conditions. Representations by Garda representatives, teacher unions, court services and the medical profession all point in that direction. Rather than allow such pressures to build, the Government should publish details of affected staff levels within various departments and agencies and its plans to fill gaps. That way, necessary reforms may become a little easier, if no less painful for all concerned.