Written Answers Nos. 99-109
99. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide funding for flood prevention measures to protect houses in Sneem from flooding from the Sneem River, County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3289/13]
View answerFollowing a preliminary assessment, it has been agreed with Kerry County Council that the OPW will carry out a Feasibility Study to assess options to address the flooding problem in Sneem separately from the South West CFRAM study. The collection of the data that is needed to calibrate the model and scheme design will commence shortly. Subject to the availability of adequate data, the Feasibility Study will commence before the end of this year.
100. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he envisages the availability of funding in 2013 to finish the section of embankment works that was funded by his Department in 2012 at Cromane Lower, County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3290/13]
View answerThe Office of Public Works allocated funding to Kerry County Council of €100,000 under the Minor Flood Mitigation Works and Coastal Protection Scheme in February, 2012 for embankment strengthening works at Cromane. The number of homes at risk from flooding, as identified by the Council at this location, would not justify the provision of further funding on cost-benefit grounds under the criteria for the Scheme.
104. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which pay and conditions in the public sector here have reformed in line with our EU, Eurozone and non-Eurozone partner; the extent to which cost of living comparisons have been made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3297/13]
View answerAddressing the fiscal crisis that faces Ireland presents enormous challenges to all citizens of the State. The public service pay and pension bill at 36% of spending is an important constituent element on which a substantial part of the burden of adjustment has and must continue to fall. It is this significant fiscal deficit, and the need to reduce it in accordance with the EU/IMF Programme, which is the primary driver for the ongoing reduction required in the cost of the public service pay and pension bill on which talks have commenced with staff representatives.
While comparisons of public servants pay rates across different countries are not widespread, the best available figures, those published by the OECD as part of its “Government at a Glance 2010” report, do not show Irish public service pay rates to be significantly out of line with other OECD countries across a broad range of disciplines on a purchasing power parity basis. Furthermore, the statistics on which the OECD based its report predate the pay reductions applied to all public servants, on a progressive basis, under the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Act 2010. The pay reductions applied to higher paid public servants under that legislation were based on the recommendations of the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector, which conducted a cross-country comparative exercise on pay rates for certain senior grades. On foot of that, the then Government cut the pay of the highest paid public servants by between 8 and 20%. A further reduction of 10% was applied to the pay rates of new recruits at entry level across the entire public service on 1 January 2011.
This Government, to help ensure that pay expectations for higher paid public servants are set appropriately and having regard to the resources available to the State, has applied a further reduced pay ceiling at the highest levels in the public service. That policy brings pay levels at senior levels in the public service in line with those the Government accepted for itself. In addition significant reductions in non pay terms of employment have been secured including standardisation and reduction in annual leave entitlements and a reduction in sick pay entitlements to a level less than those available to public servants in other EU member states.
105. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which the numbers employed throughout the public sector in respect of each Government Department and bodies under their aegis have been reduced in each year to date since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3298/13]
View answer110. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he is satisfied that staff reductions brought about by compliance with the Memorandum of Understanding signed by his predecessors with particular reference to sensitive frontline public services are not likely to damage the integrity and efficacy of such services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3303/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 105 and 110 together.
The Government is committed to reducing public service numbers to 282,500 by the end of 2014 as part of its Reform Agenda. The overriding objective is to have a more customer focused, leaner, more efficient and better integrated public service which delivers maximum value for money.
It should be noted that significant progress is being made in reducing the numbers employed in the public service. The numbers working in the public service have continued to fall, with the preliminary returns for end-2012 now standing at some 290,300, which means that, overall, we are now close to the 2005 staffing levels.
Of course, such a reduction in public service numbers poses challenges. It requires a refocus on business processes and adjustments to the way all public bodies use available resources. It will also require changes to the way individual public servants go about their daily work and greater flexibility in the way services are provided, for example with greater use of technology and shared services.
The Government is committed to making fundamental changes to the way the public service operates to safeguard the delivery of essential services in a way that is in keeping with the needs of a modern society while driving value for money for the citizen.
The moratorium on recruitment will continue until such time that the targets agreed in the Programme for Government are met. If the general moratorium on recruitment was lifted and numbers were allowed to return to their former levels, the paybill would increase over time and accordingly a substantial part of the savings already achieved would be lost. However, the precise operation of the moratorium is being kept under review by my Department.
It should be noted that there are with certain limited exceptions to moratorium for example in relation to some frontline posts, or statutory positions, etc. or where a sufficiently strong business case is made. In the Health and Education sectors in particular special arrangements are in place for exemptions to the moratorium on recruitment for specified grades and positions. However, I wish to make clear that it is part of the day to day function of the Boards and Management of all public bodies to assess, budget and plan for current and ongoing staffing requirements within allocated resources. When any vacancy arises the first issue to be considered must always be if the post still needs to be filled, or if the work can be discharged in any other way.
The historical data requested by the Deputy are available on my Department’s website http://databank.per.gov.ie/ which contains data for each year back to 1994. This data is regularly updated and I would urge all Deputies to utilise this resource.
