Officials from my Department engage on an ongoing basis with colleagues in the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS) and the Higher Education Authority (HEA) on multiple policy and operational issues, including consideration of principles for a Higher Education Staffing Agreement. The purpose of a Higher Education Staffing Agreement, once finalised, will be to update the existing overarching Employment Control Framework (ECF) approach which has been in place since 2010 and which is still in place in a number of sectors in the public service.
While the operation and management of the existing ECF approach is a matter for DFHERIS, HEA and the Higher Education Institutes (HEIs), key issues from my Department’s perspective are to ensure that it appropriately reflects fiscal, expenditure and public service staffing and pay policies. Regarding the overarching principles for a new approach, my Department is seeking to ensure that staffing decisions taken in the higher education sector are affordable and sustainable both from a higher education perspective but also from an Exchequer and wider public service staffing and pensions perspective. My Department is also mindful of the need to ensure that there is appropriate flexibility built in to any revised approach so that HEIs can operate efficiently in make their staffing decisions, having regard to their overall expenditure allocations and other appropriate controls.