Union warns of damage to public services

HEALTH union IMPACT has warned that Government plans for a 3% reduction in public service payroll costs by the end of 2009 will damage services particularly for the country’s most vulnerable.

The union’s general secretary, Peter McLoone, said Finance Minister Brian Lenihan was right to devolve implementation of the cuts to local managers, but called for “genuine engagement” with staff and their representatives to ensure the significant funding reductions do not damage services.

“The recent OECD study of Irish public services found that, compared to other countries, Irish public servants deliver high quality services with relatively few staff,” he said. “In other words, there isn’t much slack and badly managed cuts could easily hurt services to vulnerable people.

“The Taoiseach today reiterated that our economic problems would be managed through social partnership, and we hope and expect that this will genuinely be the experience across the public services this year and next. That means we need genuine engagement with the staff who deliver services and their trade union representatives.”

IMPACT also criticised plans for voluntary redundancies for senior HSE staff.

Mr McLoone said: “This will not produce early savings and people will struggle to understand why large sums of money and senior management time is being diverted to a redundancy scheme that will generate relatively few resources in the short term.”

Mr McLoone did however, welcome the decision to halt decentralisation plans in departments and offices which had not yet acquired land or property.

Meanwhile, IBEC director general Turlough O’Sullivan said: “It is prudent of government not to resort to excessive borrowing in order to address the current tax revenue shortfall. The initial savings targets for 2008 and 2009 are a good starting point and at the very least should avoid the need to break the limits of the Stability and Growth Pact. It is also encouraging that the government has not engaged in any knee-jerk actions in relation to funding the National Development Plan. It is essential to the future productive capacity of the economy that investment in much needed infrastructure remains on track.”

The Small Firms’ Association also welcomed the proposals and said the December budget would prove pivotal in helping sustain existing employment and controlling public expenditure.

SFA assistant director Avine McNally said: “As an open economy Ireland is more exposed than most to competitive pressures, and we must ensure that our cost environment is improved, otherwise we will lose competitiveness, investment and ultimately jobs.”

Chambers Ireland said it was vital that the Government focused on delivering the National Development Plan.

Ian Talbot, Chambers Ireland chief executive said core to maintain competitiveness will be “continued delivery of internationally competitive physical and virtual infrastructure”.