Eamon Gilmore
Question:67 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the steps which are being taken to improve the conditions of employment for staff at Ireland Aid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17792/01]
Other Questions. - Ireland Aid.
I understand the Deputy is inquiring mainly about staff at Ireland Aid who are on contract. As the Deputy is aware, the expanding official aid programme has posed two challenges – how to grow and how to manage that growth. Both challenges are being looked at by the group appointed to review the entire programme and to establish a reinvigorated policy and administrative base for that growth.
That said, there has been an appreciation that there are anomalies in the current organisation which needed a more immediate remedy. One of these is the situation of staff at home and abroad who are on contract. These, in the main, are development experts who work either as specialists at headquarters in particular sectors or who work in our embassies in Africa as programme officers or regional sectoral specialists. Up to now they have been on relatively short contracts on fixed salaries.
I am pleased to report that, following a submission of proposals to the Minister for Finance, there is agreement on a new regime for such staff which offers the prospect of an attractive career in the programme. The new arrangements will address issues of tenure through longer contracts, recognition of service through incremental scales and career movement through the introduction of a grading structure for specialist personnel. The new system will also address some aspects of an anomaly on pensions.
This agreement was reached only at the end of last week following discussions which the Minister, Deputy Cowen, had with the Minister for Finance. Full details of how the new system will be implemented have still to be worked out, but I expect rapid progress now that agreement has been reached.
In the context of the growing aid programme, these new arrangements are a most positive development which begin to bring our specialist staff in line with the employment conditions of many other donors and lay the foundation for building a corps of specialists vital to the management of the size of aid programme implicit in reaching the UN target for aid by 2007.
As mentioned, the wider question of staffing for a growing programme will be addressed in the review. Some more pressing aspects, relating to the upgrading of the head of mission post in three of the diplomatic missions in Africa and the assignment of junior diplomatic posts to all six priority country missions are being addressed outside of that process and early progress is expected.
Will the Minister of State make the detail of what she read available to us as it would be helpful?
Does she agree that short-term contracts, which are the basis of my question, have been a major impediment to recruiting people of a certain calibre? Does she also agree that it does not make much sense to penalise those who wish to move from one agency to another or from one realm of experience to another to acquire rights of service in terms of a career and pension rights? I congratulate the Minister of State and the Minister on succeeding in their battle with the Department of Finance. The attitude of that Department to date has been singularly negative in facilitating the type of career structure which is required if the Department is to recruit people of the best calibre.
I am glad we managed to divorce the issue of the contract staff from the wider aspects with which we will deal in the review of the programme. More flexibility is required in staffing arrangements if we are to grow efficiently with the expanded programme. The review is examining that. I am told this matter did not take as long as have other matters of similar difficulty but I am glad that following the intervention of the Minister and discussions between him and Deputy McCreevy, this matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of the individuals concerned. As we move towards expanding the programme, I hope it will provide a template for greater flexibility, mobility and career opportunities for contract staff so we will be able to attract a diverse range of expertise into the programme.
I am glad the Minister, Deputy Cowen, got his spake in with the Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, before the latter's comments in recent days. Tension between them must have risen somewhat and Deputy Cowen might not have got on so well.
We are lifelong friends.
I imagine that some of the behind the scenes comments which were not published were choice.
Is the Minister still talking to him?
Is it not the case that there is a dearth of staff in the development aid section of the Department, given the growth in the programmes? By 2004, when the budget will reach the target of 0.4%, the section will be handling a budget that is bigger than that of some individual Departments whose staff might be 200% to 300% more than the staffing complement in the Ireland Aid section. How many staff are in the section now and how many will be required to operate this scheme? Are there promotional opportunities for staff within the Ireland Aid programme so it does lose good people to promotion to other areas of the Department?
Human resources is a key aspect of the review of the official aid programme. By 2007, the overall ODA budget will be £800 million which means the programme will have grown fourfold between now and then. Inevitably, that means we must put in place an appropriate level of expertise in terms of human resources, both in the Department and in the field, to manage the programme. We are examining those issues at present. If I recall correctly, there are 68 people in headquarters. However, it is a separate question and I will forward the information to the Deputy.
Are there opportunities for promotion?
There are. Staffing issues are central to our review of the programme.
We move to Question No. 68.
On a point of order, I and other Deputies put down a number of questions and it is unacceptable that we did not find out until today that they were disallowed.
That is not a point of order.
It was 2 o'clock today, which is disgraceful.
The Deputy should call to the Ceann Comhairle's office if he has a problem about his questions.
This stifles debate. We wanted to debate European issues.
I have called Question No. 68.
A number of people have asked for more debate on European issues—
The Deputy cannot take up time on Question Time with this issue. He knows the rules and should check the matter with the Ceann Comhairle's office.
—yet that debate is stifled in this Chamber. What about Gothenburg and Nice? They are all forgotten.
What about the applicant countries?
Many of us had questions to ask on both the official Government policy and the provisional Government policy on Europe but our questions were ruled out of order.