Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 20 Jun 2001

Vol. 538 No. 4

Written Answers. - Merit Award Scheme.

John McGuinness

Question:

103 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands if her attention has been drawn to the fact that district conservation officers in Dúchas are provided with timetables and lists of courses they can attend although this list is not available to foremen and State industrial employees; if her attention has further been drawn to the fact that there is a merit award scheme in place for certain grades in Dúchas which can result in sizeable sums being paid but does not extend to some lower grades; her views on whether this discriminates against lower grades by removing opportunity for education and, therefore, probably, advancement and not recognising merit; if she will investigate this and take appropriate steps to extend to lower grades the opportunities open to others; and if the organisation's personnel policy is up to date. [18222/01]

Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands (Miss de Valera)

Specific training programmes have always been provided for both the specialist and general staff of my Department, with particular emphasis on the operational requirements of the Department as a whole. In recent times much good work has been done to extend various training modules to industrial staff. Courses cover a wide range of topics, including health and safety training, supervisory management, interviewing skills, vocational skills, stress management etc. My Department is also currently engaged in extensive craft apprenticeship training. Support is also given to staff members, at all levels, who are undertaking a wide range of elective training courses, from extra-mural certificate to post-graduate level.

I am pleased to say that my Department's embryonic training unit has now been fully staffed. In the coming months all members of my Department's staff will have the opportunity to benefit from this very welcome progress. Shortly, the training unit's new programme of courses will be circulated to staff. Training has been one of the key priorities of my Department's partnership committee, resulting in the establishment of a partnership sub-group to focus specifically on training and development matters. The valuable input from staff, unions and management to this forum has already greatly informed the future strategies that will be adopted by the training unit. It has also been decided to engage consultants to prepare a training needs analysis for the industrial staff of my Department.

In common with all other Government Departments, the merit award scheme is one that has only applied to staff covered by the Civil Service General Council Scheme for Conciliation and Arbitration. Following discussions with staff and union interests at the partnership committee, I am pleased that my Department took the initiative to have the scheme extended to industrial staff. The Minister for Finance has recently sanctioned my request to extend the scheme and my Department will shortly engage with staff interests with a view to arranging implementation.