Four-year ban on public sector hirings

By Stephen Rogers

Saturday, November 21, 2009

NO new non-essential staff will be hired in the public service for at least the next four years, the Government told unions yesterday.

In its long-awaited vision document for the public service up to 2014, the Department of Finance paints the picture of a severely shrunken service with many services curtailed or amalgamated and remaining staff expected to work much harder.

It says the moratorium on recruitment of staff will continue until the end of that year and combined with the continued availability of the incentivised career break and "family friendly policies" will "accelerate the rate of decline in numbers in the public service". The decline looks likely now to exceed 25,000.
The document is prefaced by a stark overview of the current economic crisis, claiming unemployment will hit 13.75% and the national debt will be €100bn by the end of 2010.

Therefore, it says a radical programme of transformation of the public service is essential as part of an overall cut in public spending.

"A key element in reducing internal boundaries and simplifying the production of services will be the rationalisation of State agencies in all sectors," the document An Integrated Public Service – Leaner, More Agile and More Effective says. It points out that there is no decision on which agencies will be cut, but refers to recommendations in the McCarthy report of a reduction in the number of local authorities, from 34 to 22, and of VECs, from 33 to 22.

It says, for example, that co-location of staff from national bodies in local government hosted one-stop centres "will be promoted". It also says a number of face-to-face services will be curtailed and replaced by online services.

The document also refers to the appointment of more senior managers to lead the transformation in a new "senior public service".

It also talks about the need for those staff who remain in the public service to work harder.

Union sources said the document was an "outline" proposal only but could form the basis for talks with the Government.

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Saturday, November 21, 2009