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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 23 Apr 2002

Vol. 552 No. 3

Other Questions. - Departmental Bodies.

Pat Rabbitte

Ceist:

29 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Finance the progress made to date by the public service benchmarking body; the people who have resigned from the body; if they have been replaced; when he expects the body will begin to report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12419/02]

I refer the Deputy to my reply of 19 February 2002 concerning the progress of the public service benchmarking body. The body was established in July 2000 and was asked to report by 30 June 2002. It was agreed by the parties that there would be four phases: phase 1 – written submission by the parties; phase 2 – research by the body itself; phase 3 – oral hearings and any further written submissions based on the research; and phase 4 – finalisation of the report by the body.

Written submissions were made by the parties to the body and it has carried out its research of the public service grades being examined and in the private sector. Oral hearings for each group where both sides had the opportunity to put arguments in support of their case were completed in December 2001.

The body is in the final stage and is deliberating on the issues and drafting its report with a view to finalising it by the end of June 2002. There will be one report at the end of the process. This was agreed by both the unions and the employers and is contained in the body's terms of reference.

Regarding resignations from the body, the Deputy is undoubtedly aware that one member, Mr. Jim O'Leary, tendered his resignation to the chairman of body on 10 April 2002. He was finding it difficult to commit the required amount of time to the work of the body with consequent difficulties for making a meaningful input to its decisions. It is not intended to replace Mr. O'Leary because the body is due to report at the end of June, and in the time available a new appointee would find it difficult to assimilate the extensive data and material generated to date by the body while at the same time contributing effectively to the final stages of the body's work.

I tabled the question following the resignation of Jim O'Leary from the body. Does the Minister agree that his resignation has caused some concern that the body will confine itself to one element of its brief, namely, what people perceive as the ATM aspect? Does he agree that, if this were to happen, it would be a source of concern and that we would all be anxious to ensure that other issues, such as the process of determining public service pay relativities and performance management, are addressed within the context of the body's brief? Has the Minister spoken to Mr. O'Leary about the reasons for his resignation?

No, I have not had the pleasure of speaking to Mr. O'Leary since his resignation from the body on 10 April. He now lectures at a university in my county.

The benchmarking body was constructed so that the people on it were widely accepted as fair-minded, objective and analytical. Its members are acceptable to both employers and the unions. Mr. O'Leary has brought many qualities to it. I am not privy to the workings of the benchmarking body and have not made any effort, nor should I do so, to find out what is going on, either directly or indirectly. I have not met Mr. O'Leary since he resigned but I am sure I will do so. I met him at some functions during the past year but we did not broach the subject in depth. It is the job of the body to do so and it will produce its report in due course.

My colleague, Senator Joe O'Toole, is given to the occasional flourish, which marks him out as someone who should be kept in either House of the Oireachtas. That gives some indication of how I will vote in the Seanad elections for NUI graduates. The benchmarking body is independent and will make its report by the end of June. It has a heavy workload and I hope it is able to achieve its aim in the timescale allocated to it, which ends on 30 June.

Did the Minister prepare any estimates for budget 2002 regarding a contin gency figure to deal with the benchmarking deal that will be finalised? If so, will the Minster outline them and indicate why no figure was included in the budget to accommodate a settlement that might arise from the benchmarking process?

Will there be winners as well as losers in the benchmarking process? There is a general feeling that everyone will be a winner.

I am not aware what the recommendations of the benchmarking body will be. It is an independent body set up with the agreement of the trade unions and employers. It will produce a report and I am not privy to its workings so I am unable to answer that question.

With regard to Deputy McGrath's question, there is a separate provision in the Estimates and the budgetary figures of €150 million to cover the cost of benchmarking in 2002.

That is about 1.5%.

Does the Minster think it will be adequate?

One of the revised figures in the PPF in December 2001 was that 25% of any increase given would be backdated to 1 December 2001 and the rest would be negotiated.

What percentage of—

Deputy, we cannot have questions by way of interruption. Minister, I would prefer if you did not answer questions by way of interruption.

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