THE FIRST new official reports setting out the extent to which Government departments are meeting their targets under the Croke Park agreement are expected to be published within the next few weeks.
The national body charged with overseeing the implementation of the deal has asked departments to pinpoint the savings generated and costs avoided, and reform targets which have been met for the period up to the end of March.
These reports are expected to show the number employed in the public service has fallen by 4,000-5,000 since the deal was ratified by trade unions last June.
This is expected to result in payroll savings of more than €200 million. The Croke Park agreement does not itself set out targets for reductions in staffing levels or for the overall level of cash savings to be generated.
However, in the budget last December, the then government said it wanted to see savings in the public service pay and pensions bill of €309 million this year.
It also said that it wanted to see staffing numbers fall by 7,000 to 301,000 by the end of 2011.
The new Government has not said publicly whether it has officially adopted the targets set by its predecessor.
However, indications of the Government’s thinking is likely to emerge later this month when it is scheduled to prepare a report for the EU and International Monetary Fund on employment levels and trends in the public service.
Senior figures involved in the implementation of the deal are confident that the target of €309 million is achievable this year. The health service, which accounts for about one-third of all public service staff, is on course to generate about €100 million in savings.
The elimination of 2,000 jobs under the recent voluntary redundancy/early retirement programme will save €56 million.
The controversial new contracts for agency personnel will generate savings of €35-€40 million (one of the reasons why the Health Service Executive is strongly resisting nursing unions’ objections) while reforms in the medical laboratory services will realise about €5 million.
The details of the savings generated across the board will not be known until later this month.
However, there have been cost-saving developments in other areas such as new rosters in prisons and in some Garda units.
While the Croke Park deal was negotiated a year ago and ratified by the unions in June, it did not become “operational” until the autumn when various Government departments produced action plans setting out reform targets. These action plans were amended in January to take account of the shrinking resources available to Government departments following the budget last December.
Many of the objectives set out in the plans have target dates that run over this year and next year.
While some targets have been met such as the medical laboratory reforms, the additional teaching hour in primary schools and the new Garda and prison officer rosters, others have not.
These include the plan to establish a standardised working week in the local authorities where about half currently operate on a 33-hour basis and the others on a 35-hour basis.
This proposal, which was due to come into effect from this month, has now been postponed pending the outcome of deliberations by the national implementation body for the Croke Park deal on objections raised by trade unions.
