Ruairí Quinn
Question:8 Mr. Quinn asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the recent work of the National Centre for Partnership; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14444/98]
Ceisteanna — Questions. - National Centre for Partnership.
Since I last briefed the House on 6 May, the work of the centre has been progressing.
In the private sector, the first of a series of seminars on partnership at enterprise level was held on 9 June at the Industry Centre, UCD. The seminar was well attended by employers, trade union and employee representatives and included presentations from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, the Irish Business and Employers Confederation and the Irish Productivity Centre. Initial feedback on the seminar has been positive and similar seminars are planned for other regions over the course of this year.
In addition, a joint IBEC/ICTU project — Partnership in Action at Enterprise Level (PACT) — under the EU ADAPT initiative is about to commence. Under the project, eight teams are being established on a regional basis. Each team will be made up of management and employee representatives from selected companies, an IBEC executive and a trade union official. They will be assisted by facilitators and a research consultant. The teams will assess and survey their own needs and the needs of the companies involved in order to develop enterprise partnership. They will be given the training and development to satisfy those needs and to equip them to develop partnership in their enterprises. The objective is that the teams would act as catalysts and facilitators for other enterprises in their region. In addition, training tools will be prepared to support the dissemination of partnership which will build on the experience gained by the teams. The project will run to the end of 1999.
With regard to the public sector, as the Deputy is aware from my last briefing to the House, Civil Service Departments and offices are now putting their partnership committees in place, in accordance with the General Council Report No. 1331. In the wider public service, I want to see partnership structures in place as soon as possible in accordance with Partnership 2000. I have asked my Department and the centre to assist in this process.
I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. Will he agree that the deepening of the partnership concept, to which I know he is personally committed, is an essential prerequisite to consolidating Partnership 2000 and laying the foundations for a successor agreement which, in the light of the present climate, may not be easy to achieve? Certainly five agreements in a row will be difficult to achieve. Will he indicate how the work of the National Centre for Partnership will be communicated to a wider audience than those directly participating in it? What plans, if any, does he have to ensure the work of the centre is clearly communicated to the widest possible audience?
We must continue to build the partnership arrangement to make it more comprehensive as we go on. The National Centre for Partnership is doing that because it is disseminating information on best practice which has been built up in many enterprises in both the public and the private sector. There are many good models, particularly in the private sector where a number of limited models are used. That should be developed. All Deputies will agree with me, but particularly Deputy Quinn who is an experienced negotiator, that we should move towards the Nordic and Austrian model where this process started. I recently spoke to a Prime Minister on that issue and tried to gather information on it. Rather than asking if we will have another agreement — this has happened since the Programme for National Recovery— we should examine the way this process is structured in these countries. It has been used in Austria since 1951 and Deputy Quinn will remember that in the mid-1980s that was the model we first examined. To do that, however, we must have partnership in the true sense of the word. It is not about pay but about recognition, participation and so on. That is the way I would like the process to go forward.
In respect of the second question, we have examined how the centre can best widen the work it is doing. The work is being done on a regional basis but that will only cover those who are involved and interested. The role of the liaison group is to act as the consultative forum for the centre and I am examining how we can widen not just the remit of the centre but all the work it has achieved. I do not want to oversell what the National Centre for Partnership has done to date but it is involved in very useful work. Over the next 12 months, as its work develops and there is an increases in the number of conferences, at which it will pick up good ideas, it will put in place various systems. Mr. Grogan and Mr. O'Dowd, joint general secretaries, are adamant they should proceed in that way.
Having heard about the role of the National Centre for Partnership, is the Taoiseach concerned there is need for one person to keep a watching brief over the centre in terms of its work with the social partners so that there is not a duplication of endeavours by this partnership? Given its role in partnership, has the Taoiseach considered the National Centre for Partnership might be able to intervene in the Garda pay dispute?
In answer to the second question, definitely not, that is not the role of the centre. In terms of working and co-operating with other bodies, a group consisting of representatives of a number of Departments and chaired by my Department is considering the modernisation process in the wider public service. The partnership model, which had been considered for some time, is a good one. The centre, which works with IBEC, ICTU and the productivity centre and has recourse to other groups, should be allowed develop its work.
The National Centre for Partnership was set up to extend partnership from senior level in the social partners to the agencies. The centre will examine the best agencies and companies in the private and public sector where partnership operates. It can, and will, do a good job in that regard. That has been done successfully in other countries. An Irish model is being developed for this initiative and the centre should be allowed carry out its work.
The Minister referred earlier to real partnership, with which I agree entirely. Does he see a role for local authorities in the area of partnership? Will he agree local authorities can be a dynamic force in generating activity in any given area? There is failure to recognise the partnership approach to providing job opportunities and so on. From time to time there is an attitude within local authorities that it is a burden to serve the public, but they should realise they are part of the overall structure for creating jobs and generating wealth.
That is a separate question but I will be glad to answer it. In reply to Deputy Owen I said that there is a group in place, consisting of representatives of Departments with responsibility for various sections of the public sector, including the Local Government Management Services Board and the Health Service Employee Agency which deal with the public service. If local authorities and local government are properly developed — the Minister, Deputy Dempsey, announced reform initiatives — the dynamics of local government can work. Much useful work was done about 20 years ago on the involvement of local government within the community, but somewhere along the line difficulties arose, and we are all aware of those. I feel strongly that many of the initiatives of the past ten or 15 years have been outside the local government system. They take place in the area of local government, but they are all linked to centralised Departments or receive direct grant-in-aid from various bodies.
I strongly believe people who are elected to local government should be part of the driving force behind these bodies, although not exclusively because that would exclude many good people in the community. These schemes, including the community and employment initiatives, and the funding for them should be part of the local government system and people who are elected should be involved in it. Elected councillors have to be told by various community organisations what is happening and where the money goes because they are not involved, which should not be the case.
We will move on to Question No. 9.
I understand Questions Nos. 9, 11 and 12 in the name of Deputy John Bruton were withdrawn. Was that message communicated to you, a Cheann Comhairle?
Questions Nos. 9, 11 and 12 are being taken as part of a group with Question No. 10.