Howlin rejects Varadkar’s compulsory redundancies call

Suggestions by Tourism Minister Leo Varadkar that any follow-up deal to the Croke Park Agreement must include compulsory redundancies in the public sector were shot down by ministerial colleague Brendan Howlin yesterday.

Mr Varadkar, speaking in Gdansk where he was watching the Ireland-Spain Euro 2012 match last night in his capacity as sports minister, said the current Croke Park deal would end next year and talks needed to begin on the next agreement.

Speaking on the Today with Pat Kenny programme on RTÉ radio, Mr Varadkar said: “There are very few promotion opportunities for people who are good, and that’s a problem.

“The other thing is Croke Park doesn’t allow us to squeeze out people who are bad. They ruin the whole show for everyone.

“One thing I think we do need to be able to do is compulsory redundancies where you do close down an agency, for example.

“What we have to do now [under the current agreement] is everyone gets re-deployed.”

However, Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Brendan Howlin, said that as long as Croke Park was continuing to deliver pay bill savings and reforms, there would be no pay cuts or compulsory redundancies.

Tom Geraghty, general secretary of the Public Service Executive Union, said Mr Varadkar’s assertions were “mad” and that he was confusing getting rid of under-performing staff with the issue of compulsory redundancies.