John Bruton
Ceist:19 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach the work undertaken by the National Centre for Partnership in the past six months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25080/99]
Written Answers. - Social Partnership.
Ruairí Quinn
Ceist:20 Mr. Quinn asked the Taoiseach if he will make a statement on his speech to the Conference on Social Partnership in Ireland on 24 November 1999. [25347/99]
Ruairí Quinn
Ceist:21 Mr. Quinn asked the Taoiseach if he will give a report on the progress of talks on a possible successor to Partnership 2000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25348/99]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 19, 20 and 21 together.
As I indicated to the House on 17 November, the negotiations on a new social partnership agreement, which have been under way since 9 November, are subject to confidentiality strictures to protect the negotiating positions of all sides. I can say however that the discussions so far have focused on the broad positions and priorities of the different social partners with a view to identifying an agenda for discussion later on in the negotiations. I am confident that the budget statement this afternoon will inject further momentum into the process, as well as serving to define in a clearer way the macro-economic context within which, for the first year at least, a new agreement will need to be set.
The National Centre for Partnership, established under Partnership 2000, has undertaken a significant amount of work in the past six months, as agreed by the board. The work undertaken falls into a number of broad categories.
In the public sector, Working Together – a training programme for partnership in the public sector, has been developed by the NCP and this training programme is now being delivered within organisations across the civil and wider public service.
For the private sector, a 13 module training programme and a supporting video has been developed jointly by the NCP, IBEC and ICTU as a very substantial contribution to enterprise level partnership. A business plan for the joint delivery of this programme in early 2000 is being implemented at present.
The NCP has also been working closely with a number of private and public sector bodies to facilitate the promotion of the concept and implementation of partnership.
In the private sector, the NCP has conducted a series of regional seminars on the topic of partnership at enterprise level. Both IBEC and ICTU have been active participants in the seminars and the feedback has been positive.
In September, I also opened an inaugural annual conference on partnership at the enterprise level organised by the NCP. The conference featured contributions at policy level from speakers from Ireland, the UK and Sweden, as well as inputs from practitioners in the areas of partnership.
In the public service, the development of a database is in hand to monitor the progress being made in the partnership groups in each sector. The intention is to set a best practice standard to assist management and staff to deliver an enhanced working environment and efficient service to the public. It is also intended to use this database to promote more research and development into the partnership process in the public service.
In addition to the ongoing work of the NCP an evaluation of the progress made on partnership in both the public and private sectors and the associated role of the NCP is currently under way in my Department. It is expected that the consultants engaged to carry out this evaluation will sub mit their report in December. This will form a useful backdrop and context to assist discussions on future action on partnership, post-partnership 2000
On Wednesday, 24 November I addressed a conference for public sector union officials and activists on the theme of social partnership in Ireland. The aim was to review the future developments of partnership and chapter 10 of Partnership 2000. It was a well attended conference and the National Centre for Partnership will be following up with practical support on the ground on the outcome of the conference.
In my address to the conference I stressed the importance of our public service being organised and equipped to contribute effectively in order to sustain and enhance the success of social partnership in recent years. We must be flexible and able to respond to the changing environment. Partnership, as the vehicle to modernise our public service, will play a vital part in this process.
I also referred to the problem we still have of how to reward genuine improvements in performance in the public service. In this context I referred to gainsharing as part of an overall reward-recognition strategy for the public service. The social partners will be addressing this important issue in the context of the negotiations on a new social partnership agreement.