Appendix B of the Programme for Economic and Social Progress sets out measures agreed between public service employers and the ICTU which were designed to avoid compulsory redundancy where staff surpluses arise in any particular area of the public service. Those measures include redeployment, early retirement/severance or other agreed measures including career breaks or unpaid leave.
Those arrangements come into play only where changes give rise to staff surpluses and the decision on the specific measures or mix of measures to be adopted in any such instance will have to be determined by local management in consultation with its workforce and their union representatives having regard to the particular circumstances of their organisation.
Since these measures have been, in the words of the agreement, "designed to avoid compulsory redundancy", it would be unfair to the staff concerned and to the taxpayer if I were to rule out in advance any one of the alternative solutions which have been identified.