Mairéad Farrell
Question:3. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the preparations he has made for the unwinding of unpaid hours in the Haddington Road Agreement. [2514/22]
View answerThursday, 20 January 2022
Questions (3)
Oral answers (6 contributions)
An tAire has said that he expects to receive the Mulvey report in the coming weeks. Will he advise us as to the preparation he has done for receiving the report? I understand that he cannot guess what will be in the report but I am interested in hearing about his preparations.
I thank the Deputy very much. The Haddington Road agreement provided for a range of significant reform and productivity measures including the introduction of the additional working hours for public servants the Deputy has referred to from 1 July 2013. She will be familiar with the details of those additional working hours.
Chapter 4 of Building Momentum - A New Public Service Agreement 2021-2022 provides that the parties to the agreement recognise and accept that certain measures introduced under the public service stability agreements, including the Haddington Road agreement, are considered outstanding matters to be resolved as part of this agreement. In this context, section 4.2 of the agreement provided for the establishment of an independent body to assess issues arising in addressing the Haddington Road hours and to make appropriate recommendations to be applied equitably across all affected grades, groups, categories and sectors.
An independent hours body chaired by Kieran Mulvey, former head of the Workplace Relations Commission, and comprising of employer, trade union representatives and independent members was established in April last year. The commitment to review this issue was a key element in agreeing Building Momentum, which also provided for sustainable pay increases across the public service over last year and this year.
I recently received correspondence from the chairperson with the independent body’s conclusions and recommendations. I have yet to receive the full report. I understand that the independent body will finalise this by the end of January. The submission of the final report and its consideration by Government is an important part of the continuing implementation of the agreement. The Deputy will be familiar with the recommendations that have been forwarded to me up to this point because they have been welcomed by a number of trade unions.
A number of steps have been taken in preparation for the potential removal of the Haddington Road agreement hours. A budget of €150 million to replace these hours has already been provided for in the budget for this year. I have also communicated details of the potential changes to the relevant Ministers and sectors to enable commencement of any necessary planning at sectoral level regarding the implementation of the recommendations, depending on the decision of Government.
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. I am also quite interested in the analysis that he and his Department will have done to determine the additional value of those extra hours. Will he say what has been done to quantify the savings made by increasing the hours? How many shifts were covered? How much was knocked off the agency Bill? What extra services were delivered? As I am sure the Minister is fully aware from listening to much of the analysis surrounding the letter he received, it is interesting to look at the productivity involved. Much of the analysis involves talking about the productivity of workers who have a better work-life balance. I am interested in seeing the analysis the Minister and his Department have carried out with regard to that productivity.
I thank the Deputy very much. It is fair to say that the Haddington Road hours have real value, especially in areas such as healthcare. These are hours in which really important work is carried out. There is a cost to replacing those hours. The work of assessing exactly what that cost will be is ongoing. My Department has, of course, carried out its own assessment over time but the independent body, which I hope will furnish its report to me in the coming weeks, has also looked at this issue and has received submissions and presentations from the different sectors that are subject to the Haddington Road hours.
One key factor for me in considering the report, when I get it, will be protecting core services. I know that is also of importance to the workers and their representatives and trade unions. There will be challenges in implementing the changes recommended in this report, especially in healthcare, should we decide to do so. All of that will be taken into account. As I have said, I have yet to receive the report. It will address the issues the Deputy has raised with regard to productivity and the cost of these hours.
I thank the Minister. I am aware that the Minister has not received the full report but I am interested in this area because we often see an increase in the use of agency staff, which comes at a cost.
I would be interested in looking at that analysis and whether those additional hours had an impact. Did we see a reduction in the use of agency staff? What I have seen at times has instead been an increase in the use of agency staff. I would also be interested in hearing about the details of the preparations undertaken regarding unwinding these hours. Is it intended that what will be proposed will be in the form of a day off every six to eight weeks, or will it be a few minutes here and there? Will this be something meaningful for the people impacted?
If we get to that point, and this matter is subject to a Government decision yet to be taken, because I must consider the report in the round and then bring a recommendation to Government, which I will do, and if changes are to be implemented, then it will be a matter for the individual sectors to determine how those changes are to be implemented. All sectors have been aware since late 2020 that this process of setting up an independent body to examine the Haddington Road agreement hours was being embarked upon. As I said, having recently received a cover letter and a summary of the report's conclusions and recommendations, I wrote to the relevant Ministers and the different Departments to alert them to these recommendations coming my way. That is not to give an indication of what the decision in this regard will be but it is prudent to ensure that people are aware of what recommendations will be coming to me for consideration. The report will recommend that these changes commence from 1 July, which is not terribly far away. The independent body estimates the cost of implementing the recommendations will be €180 million in 2022.