Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 May 2014
87. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of allowances in the public sector that have been restricted or discontinued since 2012; the resulting savings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20672/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra88. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the current status of his review of public sector allowances; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20673/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 87 and 88 together.
Departments were notified in September 2012 of details of the Government Decision in relation to the outcome of the Review of Public Service Allowances and Premium Pay. Approval for payment of an allowance to a new beneficiary pending the outcome of the review was withdrawn from 31st January 2012 and was not restored in the case where the review found that there is no business case for its payment to new beneficiaries.
Following the review, sectoral management were instructed to engage immediately with staff interests with a view to securing their early agreement to the elimination of those Departmental allowances payable to current beneficiaries where no business case exists to pay those allowances to new beneficiaries, with a list identified for consideration among the allowances they should prioritise for early elimination. In addition, Departments have been asked to identify other allowances, including legacy allowances, for elimination from current beneficiaries. Departments are now directly engaging with staff representatives on the allowances specific to their areas.
Labour Court Recommendation 20448 has implications for the implementation of the Government decision. In particular, the Court recommended that the parties should enter into central negotiations with a view to reaching a generally applicable agreement on measures by which loss arising from the elimination of pensionable allowances can be ameliorated. My Department is currently working on proposals to put to the staff side.
The Haddington Road Agreement provides that there will be full co-operation with the Allowances review, taking account of the recommendations contained in Labour Court Recommendation 20448, and the outcome of the review will therefore be advanced in each sector during the lifetime of the Agreement. The Agreement also provides for changes to certain allowances in the sectors. The Haddington Road Oversight Group is keeping the matter under general review.
In cases where no agreement can be reached, the time-bound mechanism for dispute resolution through existing industrial relations systems, the Labour Court or Conciliation and Arbitration Schemes, or through the Public Service Stability Agreement 2013-2016 (the Haddington Road Agreement), is available. Because many allowances have been discontinued for new appointees to posts, the precise figures on the numbers of allowances discontinued will depend on rates of staff turnover across the public service, however the estimated savings arising have been built into the pay allocations for 2014.
