asked the Minister for the Public Service if he will make a statement on his involvement in directing the local authorities on pay policy; and if he will state, in particular, his attitude on the flexibility which should be allowed to local authorities on the issue of pay policy guidelines as they are part of the public service.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Local Authorities' Policy.
30.
The formulation and application of public sector pay policy is a necessary activity of Government. It is the function of individual Ministers to ensure that this policy is implemented in the areas of the public sector for which they have responsibility. The statutory responsibility for the approval of pay rates in local authorities rests with the Minister for the Environment.
My concern is to ensure that there is adequate co-ordination of policy in relation to the remuneration of all public sector employees. Such co-ordination is necessary to ensure consistency in the approach adopted by individual public sector managements in applying Government pay policy. There are arrangements to ensure the full involvement of the responsible Ministers and adequate consultation with the relevant public sector managements.
In view of the recent disputes does the Minister see merit in the proposal to allow greater flexibility to officials of various local authorities in order to allow them to enter into negotiations? A degree of flexibility is allowed to semi-State bodies to carry on their own pay negotiations. If this were done it might help to resolve disputes.
The Deputy will agree that there is already a substantial amount of flexibility given to local authorities. In the particular instance of the present dispute to which the Deputy might be referring both sides went to the Labour Court. There is a Labour Court recommendation in relation to the dispute. I have no problem about giving increased flexibility to local authorities. I would favour such devolution if at the end of the day the Minister responsible for the co-ordination of pay policy is in a position to continue to exercise that duty. However, that is the potential conflict. If the Deputy suggests there should be greater flexibility within that framework for local authorities I would agree with him.
Does the Minister deny that in the case of the Dublin Corporation dispute the officials concerned had to clear their negotiating stance before they could agree to anything? It is generally believed that the officials were not in a position to negotiate directly but were subject to the Minister for the Public Service and that very stringent guidelines were laid down. They were not allowed to move outside of those.
I do not accept that. There is a natural tendency in junior positions or in positions which were perceived to be junior to avoid exploring the full range of options. People claim that they cannot do so and have the matter referred upstairs. I regret that. To my knowledge there was nothing preventing both sides from exploring fully a wide range of options which were not adequately explored on both sides.