asked the Minister for Health the position concerning the process of arbitration with the Medical Union and the Medical Association in salary claims submitted on behalf of medical employees of health authorities.
13.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Medical Employees' Salaries.
12.
asked the Minister for Health when the proposals concerning a new salary structure for medical employees in health authorities were first presented to the county managers' association; and whether he is satisfied with the rate of progress on this matter.
14.
asked the Minister for Health when it is intended that arbitration on the conflict between the medical employees of local authorities and the county managers' association will commence; and if he expects it to be concluded shortly.
15.
asked the Minister for Health if he will make a statement concerning the duration of the negotiations at present taking place with the county managers' association on the conditions of service of medical officers of local authorities, which appear to preclude his taking steps to deal with grievances held by medical employees in the various public services.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to answer Questions Nos. 12, 13, 14 and 15 together. I am not a party to the scheme of conciliation and arbitration for local authority officers, my sole function being to accord (or withhold) sanction to any settlements emerging. The scheme is comparised of the County and City Managers' Association, representing the employing health authorities, on the one hand, and trade unions and associations representing the employees, on the other, with, of course, an independent arbitrator to adjudicate when the parties fail to reach agreement.
Conditions of service are not comprehended by the present scheme but remuneration is. Since the inception of the scheme in 1964 it has worked reasonably well and has produced an impressive succession of settlements acceptable to the staffs. I understand that, at the moment, eight claims from the medical staffs of local health authorities are awaiting resolution. Of these, I am informed that the claims on behalf of the medical staffs of psychiatric hospitals is listed for hearing by the arbitrator on Friday of this week. The Deputy may rest assured that any settlement emerging will have my prompt attention.
An acknowledged problem of the present scheme is that latterly the machinery has become overburdened by claims from the various grades of officers and that delay has occurred in processing these claims because the managers had not adequate staff to assist them in handling huge and unexpected volume of negotiations involved. Conscious of this problem, the parties to the scheme, assisted by officers of my Department and the Department of Local Government, have been discussing the outline of a revised and improved scheme. The main innovation will be the setting up of a corporate body, to be financed by local authorities, with premises, staff and office equipment for the purpose of handling claims from the staff side. The approval of the Government has been conveyed to introduction of the necessary legislation. In the meantime, provisional arrangements to expedite conciliation and arbitration work are being considered as a matter of urgency.
Could I ask the Minister if he could give any indication as to when this legislation will be introduced for the establishment of the corporate body he refers to in his reply? Will it be this year?
I understand from the Minister for Local Government, who is handling this primarily, that it will be introduced some time this year.
The Minister did not give any date on which the conciliation commenced. Has he got that date?
The claim on behalf of the medical staffs of psychiatric hospitals is listed for hearing by the arbitrator on Friday of this week.
I did not ask that. I asked the date on which the first approaches were made to the county managers' association.
I am afraid I have not got that.
That was one of the points I asked in my question.