Vol. 416 No. 6
24 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if he will outline the plans he has to provide employment for Customs officials whose work will no longer be necessary as a result of the creation of the barrier free Internal Market in Europe.
25 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Finance if he will give details of the number of staff employed by the Customs and Excise section of his Department in County Waterford; if this complement of staff will be retained after the 1992 Single European Act comes into operation; if not, if he will outline the alternative duties which are proposed; and if he will give a guarantee that all the staff will be retained in the Waterford area.
84 Mr. G. Reynolds asked the Minister for Finance if he will outline the plans he has to provide employment for Customs officials whose work will no longer be necessary as a result of the creation of the barrier free Internal Market in Europe.
96 Mr. Belton asked the Minister for Finance if he will outline the plans he has to provide employment for Customs officials whose work will no longer be necessary as a result of the creation of the barrier free Internal Market in Europe.
134 Mr. Cotter asked the Minister for Finance if he will outline the plans he has to provide employment for Customs officials whose work will no longer be necessary as a result of the creation of the barrier free Internal Market in Europe.
135 Mrs. Fennell asked the Minister for Finance if he will outline the plans he has to provide employment for Customs officials whose work will no longer be necessary as a result of the creation of the barrier free Internal Market in Europe.
176 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance the proposals, if any, he has for the future employment of those currently involved in Customs work on the Border once the European Single Market comes into being.
182 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance if he will outline the plans he has to provide employment for Customs officials whose work will no longer be necessary as a result of the creation of the barrier free Internal Market in Europe.
I propose to answer Questions Nos. 24, 25, 84, 96, 134, 135, 176 and 182 together.
The completion of the Internal Market in accordance with the provisions of the Single European Act and, in particular, the abolition of internal frontier controls, will mean considerable staffing, operational and other changes for the Customs and Excise service.
The Revenue Commissioners have now produced a report on the staffing implications for the Customs and Excise service of the planned completion of the Single European Market on 1 January 1993 and, in particular, the elimination of the fiscal frontiers and Border controls between member states.
This report has been presented by the Revenue Commissioners to the staff and the staff unions concerned. In summary it shows that a potential surplus of approximately 600 Customs and Excise staff will arise as a consequence of the introduction of the Internal Market. This surplus figure is based on the current assessment of post-1992 staffing requirements taking account of decisions taken so far at EC and national levels. It will be necessary, of course, to review, on a continuing basis, the assumptions made in the report in so far as those might be impacted upon by future decisions in relation to the completion of the Internal Market.
Within this overall outcome, it is clear that the impact of the Single Market changes falls unevenly on Customs and Excise locations. Understandably, areas with a heavy customs preventative work element such as the Border areas will suffer the most. These areas will require special attention to avoid hardship to Customs and Excise and their families.
Referring specifically to Deputy Deasy's question, I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that there are at present 74 Customs and Excise staff employed in County Waterford and that based on current decisions and assumptions they estimate that 32 of these will be surplus to requirements following the completion of the Internal Market on 1 January 1993.
In the report the Revenue Commissioners have outlined proposals aimed at reducing the surplus figure. These proposals envisage the enhancing of existing areas of work currently undertaken by Customs and Excise staff such as the control of drugs and other illicit traffic and the control of duty-free sales to better cater for the post-1992 environment. Also the commissioners have put forward proposals for the involvement of Customs and Excise staff in new areas of work which will arise post-1992 but on which final decisions have yet to be taken. These areas would include motor vehicle taxation and control of excisable products. I have no doubt that these proposals will prove fruitful in reducing the surplus numbers.
The Revenue Commissioners have made it clear that it will not be possible to address the surplus staff situation solely within the Customs and Excise area. They have, therefore, put before the staff and the staff unions concerned the necessity to accept that solutions to the surplus staff problem must be sought within Revenue as a whole and within the wider public and Civil Service areas. They have put forward, in this context, a specific proposal to absorb surplus Customs and Excise staff through access to decentralisation posts in Revenue and in the wider public and Civil Service areas. The Deputy will be aware that in the current phase of the decentralisation programme the Revenue Commissioners are relocating about 900 staff to the Limerick, Ennis and Nenagh areas. Furthermore, the House will be aware that in the next phase of the decentralisation programme the Government have decided to relocate staff to Tullamore, Cork, Portlaoise, Wexford, Kilkenny, Waterford and Dundalk, areas in which staff surpluses have been identified in the 1992 context. It is obvious that the relocations to these centres provide the opportunity to absorb staff in their local communities.
Other specific proposals to absorb surplus Customs and Excise staff outlined in the report include: using Customs and Excise staff to fill normal vacancies arising in non-decentralised areas of Revenue and other Departments; transfer of Customs and Excise staff to other Departments; derogation for Revenue from interdepartmental promotion panels; the identification of what work, now done elsewhere in Revenue, could more advantageously be done by Customs and Excise staff; the identification of what new work in support of activities elsewhere in Revenue could be undertaken by Customs and Excise staff, particularly in relation to compliance and collection operations; the identification of how Customs and Excise staff might best be integrated into other areas of Revenue; the introduction, without delay, of a migration plan, for redeployment of staff between now and 1 January 1993 and the availability of a voluntary early retirement package in the context of the surplus staff situation arising in the Customs and Excise area.
All of these proposals are now being actively negotiated with the staff unions concerned and the Revenue Commissioners are keeping my Department fully informed of developments. The implementation of these proposals will demand a high degree of flexibility and co-operation on the part of the staff and the unions concerned. I would be hopeful that this will be forthcoming.
Does the Minister accept that the redeployment which may result from this will have a particularly adverse effect on Border areas? I am thinking in particular of the town of Dundalk. May I specifically ask the Minister what proposals he has for Dundalk?
Each individual area has been looked at in the plan. Consideration has been given to the figures, grades, staff and the scope within areas for decentralisation. I referred to the Waterford area because there was a question on Waterford. For example, if there are 50 posts in an area we will look at how many of the posts can be filled through other Revenue work or public service work and if people are interested in early retirement packages. That is being done in respect of each area. The report is being discussed with the staff unions, particularly with the local branches for each area.
The Minister's reply is extremely complex but this is such a serious issue that it needs to be addressed in great depth. Did the Minister say there will be 600 surplus staff in the whole country, including 32 in Waterford?
That is correct.
I put down the question initially because the Customs officials in the various centres who are affected were not communicated with until quite recently, and they did not know where they stood. Any person who is unsure of his future career would be extremely anxious to find out the position. Can the Minister say whether these people will be made redundant or will they be placed in other jobs within the Civil Service in the areas in which they are at present employed?
This question was raised by every Deputy from all the areas concerned. When I took up this post in November the issue was brought to my notice by several Deputies who asked me to meet groups from various areas. I met a number of representatives and then asked that we proceed with work on the report. This is a public document, and Deputy Deasy is correct; it was essential that it be completed and published as quickly as possible. It covers every area — what will happen, what the possibilities are for each area, the structures and possibilities for new revenue tasks——
When did that report come to hand?
Around Christmas and the discussions are taking place at staff level.
Is the Minister aware of the frustration expressed by Customs officials that their often vigilant work is not perceived to be followed up with the expected vigour on the part of the investigations branch? Specifically has he any plans to use the surplus staff to strengthen the investigations dimension of the Customs Service?
I have already announced in the Budget Statement that when the final analysis is undertaken and agreed with the staff unions a sizable number of staff will be involved in followup work not just in Customs and Excise but in Revenue generally.
I would like to know if my Question No. 55 was included in the Minister's reply.
Not to my knowledge.
I am aware of the report that issued before Christmas which made disappointing reading for people in the Dundalk area and along the Border. A supplemental report, issued this week and handed to Customs officials, is of even greater disappointment to the Dundalk area in that approximately 90 staff in that area will be surplus to needs at end-1992. What specific proposals exist in relation to the Dundalk area as regards replacing the work these people have been doing? Is the Minister aware that the counterparts of the Customs officers in Newry have been taken care of with the decentralisation of VAT collectors to the Newry area to take up any surplus that might occur on that side of the Border? Could the Minister comment on the much heralded decentralisation programme for Dundalk which has run into difficulties? The Revenue Commissioners are at present considering possible factory premises in the Dundalk area in which to locate surplus staff, but perhaps it would be better if they were located in the decentralised office.
The question is over long and perhaps anticipatory of the Deputy's later question.
I would like to reply to Deputy Dermot Ahern because he is one of the Deputies to whom I referred earlier who asked me to meet a number of staff groups from Dundalk. Because of its location close to the Border, Dundalk has been hit very badly in this report. The Revenue Commissioners, staff unions concerned and officials of my Department, have been considering the position in Dundalk to see whether the best way to proceed would be by way of decentralisation, relocation of staff or other activities which will be necessary after 1 January next, to reduce substantially the numbers at present involved.
