Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 March 2010
194 Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Minister for Finance if public servants and civil servants engaging in an overtime ban will continue to be paid overtime; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12352/10]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy direct area of responsibility is the civil service. Civil servants do not receive overtime payments for periods that are not worked because of a ban on overtime.
Questions relating to other areas of the public service should, more appropriately, be addressed to the relevant Minister.
195 Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Minister for Finance his plans to reduce the cost to the taxpayer of overtime paid to public and civil servants by introducing clock-in or other verification mechanisms to ensure that overpayments and over claims are not allowed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12353/10]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe cost of overtime, which is primarily a matter for each Minister or Head of Office to be managed in the first instance within their pay allocation.
Under the terms of Administrative Budget Agreements sanction is delegated to Departments and Offices to pay overtime in accordance with the general directions contained in Department of Finance Circulars 27/99 and 30/0 provided that the expenditure involved can be accommodated within the Administrative Budget for the year in question. Departments/Offices are required to reduce the incidents of overtime and allowances through the reorganisation of work practices.
As the Deputy will be aware it is the responsibility of every Department/Office to authorise, monitor and verify overtime. I am informed by Personnel Officers that any such extra attendance is verified in accordance with the officer's attendance record. Questions about the cost of overtime in the Public Service should be addressed to the responsible Minister.
196 Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Minister for Finance the extent that structural overtime exists in the public service and Civil Service whereby employees are paid regular overtime regardless of whether the overtime is actually worked; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12354/10]
Amharc ar fhreagraGovernment Departments and Offices do not have any practices of structural overtime. Questions of overtime issues in the Public Service should be addressed to the relevant Minister.
197 Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Minister for Finance his plans to reduce the cost to the taxpayer of allowances paid to public and civil servants by requiring the production or receipts for expenditure incurred with respect to these allowances; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12355/10]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe issue of expense allowances in the civil and public service is kept under review by my Department to ensure that the optimum cost efficiency and cost effectiveness is achieved.
198 Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Minister for Finance if he has a strategy to reduce the cost to the Exchequer of sick leave taken by civil and public servants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12356/10]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Civil Service has developed a complex set of rules and procedures in relation to sick leave and these arrangements form a significant part of the terms and conditions of employment of all civil servants. The policy was updated in 2007. Since then, a further up date and revision of the policy has been developed and presented to the Staff Unions. This policy takes on board the concerns raised by the Comptroller and Auditor General 2009 Special Report on Sickness Absence in the Civil Service, and provides a general framework of guidelines on more efficient management of sick leave. The policy is also aimed at reducing absence from work which should result in reduction in cost of sick leave.
As the Deputy will be aware, the day to day management of sickness absence rests with each Government Department or Office. My Department is working with Civil Service Departments and Offices to ensure development of appropriate systems of absence management, in line with best practice, and to ensure that Departments/Offices give a high priority to their proper implementation. Each Department has IT systems to record attendance and absences in the Civil Service namely a Time and Attendance system and a Human Resource Management System (HRMS). These systems form one part of absence management/controls and are aimed at complementing the non-IT systems, the manual business processes in place for checking, cross referencing and validating absences, thus providing an overall robust system for absence management in organisations. The management of Sick Leave in the Public Service is a matter for the relevant Minister.
