asked the Minister for the Public Service his Department's policy on the Civil Service embargo for 1986.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Civil Service Embargo.
16.
Government policy in relation to the embargo is set out in the White Paper Serving the Country Better. In brief it states that subject to the continuation of policy in relation to reducing the size of the Civil Service the present one in three embargo will be replaced by a system under which the appropriate overall staffing level to be reached by each Department a year hence will be determined by the Government. This system will apply from 1986.
Some months ago during Question Time the Minister mentioned that he was asking each Department to come up with targets and proposals for filling staff vacancies in 1986 and that he would examine the proposals when they were returned to the Department of the Public Service. Will he inform the House as to whether they have come back with proposals on the embargo?
What was suggested was that instead of the one in three embargo operating as previously, the measure which would produce an equivalent effect would be introduced. That measure would be a system whereby the staffing target for each Department in one year's time would now be set and the Department would be obliged to achieve that staffing level by whatever means they felt appropriate and the targets for each Department would be arrived at by the Government following consultation between the DPS and each of the Departments concerned. That process is in train at the moment and I hope that it will be possible, in the course of the next few weeks, to decide on the appropriate staffing levels for each of the Departments concerned. Those then would be the appropriate levels which the Departments would be expected to have reached by the end of December of this year.
Is it correct that this new procedure means, in effect, that the Government embargo has been removed?
No.
Would the Minister explain the difference between the embargo as it operated prior to this system and this system?
The embargo previously operated on the basis that only every third vacancy as it fell due could be filled. In this case the new system will have an equivalent effect to that of the embargo, but would be operated on the basis of setting targets for each Department and requiring the Departments to reach those staffing targets by the end of the particular year. The staffing targets will be set taking into account the volume of work, the effect of the embargo on the particular Department so far, the projected work of the Department over the course of the year and the type of work being carried out. Not wishing to raise the ire of the Deputy, let me say that this matter is dealt with more fully in a later question.
Would the Minister give us an indication if it is the intention of the Government to deal with these en bloc or as individual Departments on an ongoing basis? Will there be one decision by the Government and will any explanation be given in that review of the Departments whose development potential is at present being hampered by lack of staff? Will any consideration be given by his Department and the Government to provide the staff in areas where this can have a beneficial effect on development in various sectors and on job creation?
Consultations with the individual Departments will have to take place individually, but the collective sum of those targets will have to produce the same overall result on Civil Service numbers as would have happened had the previous embargo continued to operate. It may well be that there will be the necessity to make adjustments as between the desired staffing level of a Department and the way in which that level might fit in with the overall target for the size of the Civil Service by the end of this year. Initial discussions have been taking place with individual Departments. They are in negotiation, shall we say, with my Department at present. The result of those negotiations will be to produce a set of staffing targets for each Department, the overall effect of which would be to reach the embargo equivalent at the end of each year.
The Minister has not mentioned the part of my question dealing with development within the Departments. Will there be any consideration of this, or will priority be given to where the provision of staff would help to create further employment opportunities?
As I mentioned earlier, an effort has been made to take all factors into account, such as the previous effect of the embargo on one Department visà-vis another, whether the workloads of the Departments have increased or decreased, the projected work, whether the work is revenue generating or not and whether, as the Deputy suggests, the work might have an employment generating content. An effort is being made to recognise all those factors. It would, of course, be fair to say that, as the Deputy may recall, most individual Departments are quite convinced that their work is of paramount importance in the sphere of Government.
Question No. 17.
The Minister would need to keep very much in mind that there are areas which are seriously hampered and where the potential could be expanded enormously provided staff were made available in these areas.
While I may not necessarily agree with him, I appreciate the point made by the Deputy.
I think we have covered that subject very well.
Is the Minister making special provision for the Revenue Commissioners, to ensure that sufficient staff are available for the collection of taxes?
The Revenue Commissioners have had very special provision made for them over the years.