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CSQCivil Service Quarterly
SUMMER 2018
forging anew futurecivil service divisional conference 2018
Summer 2018 CSQ
CSQ Summer 2018
SUMMER 2018
3
United and ready as never before...
Civil Service Quarterly
editor:Derek Mullen
asst editor: Róisín McKane
copy editing/design: Brazier Media Printed by:
Mahons
CSQ
fórsa civil service division
Tel +353 1 817 1500Tel +353 1 676 5394
Email [email protected]
editorial
Derek MullenEditor
time with conference seeking a rowback on additional hours introducedas part of the Haddington roadagreement.
Hr shared services, or PeoplePointas it was called, is now a major priorityfollowing 11 motions at conferencecalling for a fundamental review ofservices up to full closure and a returnof Hr services to line departments.discussions continue with seniordPer officials on this important matter. Time for Government to sit up and listen on this one.
in this edition we report on conference including the key issues referred to here and indeed on important work on-going across thecivil service.
The strength of the new union waspalpable in Killarney and hopefullymore so as we gather in May for themain conference with approximately1,000 delegates expected to attend,with one thing in common – all lookingto the future for full restoration andcontinuing improvements in pay andterms and conditions of employmentand – importantly – as part of our newunion fórsa, the strongest voice forcivil and public servants in irelandtoday.
This is the second edition of CivilService Quarterly, the magazine formembers in the civil service divisionof fórsa. The first edition of the magazine was edited by my colleaguesean carabini who has now moved tothe education division of the unionand i wish him well for the future in hisexciting new assignment.
as i write this editorial we are aboutto embark on our journey back to Killarney for the inaugural mainconference of fórsa which will be opened by PresidentMichael d Higgins on 16th May. This conference will bring togetherdelegates from all divisions of theunion, many to meet for the first time under the fórsa banner.
The main conference follows whatwas judged to be a very successful first civil service conference at thesame venue in april at which niallMcGuirk was elected chairperson andann McGee and ronan Bolger wereelected as vice chairs.
if there was one resounding message from the civil service conference it was that we clearly havemuch more in common than we couldever have imagined. delegates fromformer constituencies gelled togetheron important debates on shared services, new entrants’ pay and working time, setting a considerableagenda for the incoming executiveand Head office team for 2018 andbeyond.
clearly not every issue is open toearly resolution. However, theconference has set the agenda, declared its priorities and the work begins. indeed, as reported in this edition, initial talks with Governmentare beginning to scope out solutionson new entry pay. although possiblesolutions will not be easily found – asis the case with additional working
Summer 2018 CSQ
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Summer 2018 CSQ
Delegates at Fórsa’s recent Civil Service Divi-sion conference have called for a fundamentalreview of the centralised HR shared servicessystem, formerly known as PeoplePoint, aftera survey of members revealed that 83% of re-spondents had experienced problems with it.
A number of motions to the conference heldin Killarney in April also called for HR sharedservices to be scrapped, and for HR servicesto be returned to individual departments andagencies.
Speaking during the conference, Fórsa Na-tional Secretary Derek Mullen said: “The diffi-culty with HR shared services is this – it is thatthe management policy is to take the humanout of human resources.”
He continued: “We were promised a ‘BraveNew World’ when it was opened in 2013. Even-tually they set up a call centre. They haven’ttrained staff very well. It’s under-resourced,with very low morale out there because of thecriticism from the wider Civil Service.
Problems“They are our members and we do have to
protect them. Conference today is calling for afundamental review of HR services – and if wecan’t fix the problems in that review I think themotions which calls for services to be returnedto line departments will be followed up byFórsa.”
More than half of the 1,079 civil servantswho responded to Fórsa’s survey said their payhad been affected by problems encounteredwith HR shared services. Another 18% saidtheir sick pay had been affected, and 6% saidpension payments had been hit.
The largest single problem encountered wasoverpayments, which staff must repay (23%),followed by problems with sick leave reconcili-ation (21%), annual leave (19%), payment ofincrements (17%), pay adjustments followingpromotion (13.5%), underpayments (9%), pen-sions and parental leave (7% each).
Some 67% said there were delays resolvingtheir problem and 53% complained of poorcommunications. While 31% said they weresatisfied with the way their query had beenprocessed and resolved, 37% said they werenot. Almost a third said they were still awaitingan outcome.
Only 15% said they had registered a formalcomplaint, with more than half stating thatthey were unaware of complaints procedures.
Derek Mullen claimed systemic problemswith the system meant staff working in HRshared services had been placed in an impos-sible situation – a sentiment reflected in manyof the 10 conference motions on the subjectsubmitted by union branches.
He told CSQ: “That HR shared services
works at all is down to the dedication of thecivil servants employed there. They’ve had anextraordinarily difficult time in recent years asthey try to make a poorly designed systemfunction.
“But the problem of overpayments, whichhas reached epidemic proportions, is causinggreat suffering to many civil servants, includ-ing many in vulnerable financial circumstances,who have to repay money they do not have.”
Civil servants who are overpaid have to re-turn the money within a year or less.
Mullen continued: “The extensive underpay-ments and unprecedented delays in payingpeople their correct salary once they are ap-pointed or promoted is equally problematic. It’s
difficult to identify a single aspect of HRshared services activity that has not given riseto problems.” Survey respondents also ac-knowledged that HR shared services staff areworking under excessively stressful condi-tions, but they expressed frustration that is-sues previously dealt with in good time by localHR departments now took much longer to re-solve. Mullen said the project, which was intro-duced in 2013 to save €2.5 million a yearthrough staff cuts, was launched before it wasready.
“The IT systems were not fully developed andservice level agreements between HR sharedservices and line departments were unrealisticand lacked penalties.
“The staffing requirements were poorly un-derstood, and the organisation had an overre-liance on temporary staff from the outset. Ourmembers in HR shared services also report alack of adequate training for new staff who,with ever-increasing workloads, get little morethan ‘on the job’ instruction. As if the system isnot difficult enough to navigate, staff aren’tbeing given the tools to do the job,” Mullenadded.
The system is also unable to recognise theattendance patterns of shift workers and oth-ers with atypical working arrangements. As aresult, these employees have effectively hadno HR service in recent years.
Fórsa said it launched the survey following ahuge number of complaints from members, aswell as senior management’s denial of the sys-temic nature of the problem.
That Hr shared servicesworks at all is down to the
dedication of the civil servants employed there
23%
21%
19%
18%
13.5%
17%
9%
Overpayments
Sick leave reconciliation
Annual leave
Sick pay affected
Increment payments
Promotion pay
Underpayments
80% report problemswith Hr shared services
Survey results
Problems highlighted in survey...
AT A GLANCE
KeY issUe 10 motions on HR shared services
Picture: D
omnick Walsh
CSQ Summer 2018
5
There was a full house in at-tendance at the Fórsa YouthCommittee-hosted table quizin Nerney Court, on 3rd May
2018, in aid of Focus Ireland. Focus Ireland is Ireland’s leading not-
for-profit charity working to prevent peo-ple becoming, remaining or returning tohomelessness.
Focus Ireland’s founder Sister Stanis-laus Kennedy and Mike Allen, Director ofAdvocacy, spoke of the vital services andsupport provided by the organisation incombatting the homelessness epidemicblighting the lives of thousands of men,women and children across the townsand cities of Ireland at present.
The table quiz raised a significant sumfor the Focus Ireland ‘Housing First forYouth’ project, a project which has helpedsupplying accommodation at affordablerent levels for young homeless people aswell as providing budgeting and life skillsadvice and a job path.
Young people housed under the projecthave reported improvements in health, in-
Paul MacSweeneyAGS, Civil Service Division
dependent living skills, life satisfactionand personal relationships as a result ofbeing housed by Focus Ireland.
The organisation provides youth hous-ing services in Clare, Cork, Dublin, Limer-ick, North Tipperary and Waterford.
Mike Allen talked of the work carriedout by Focus Ireland in conjunction withTUSLA and Limerick City Council inHousing First for Youth and noted thatFórsa has members in all three organisa-tions.
The quiz was won by a team of former
PSEU members going by the name FortisTrifort comprising Seán Carabini, AGS,and Civil Service Divisional ExecutiveCommittee members Denis Ryan andDermot Cawley as well as Celine McEvoy.The triumvirate of general secretariescame joint third.
Special thanks goes to Joe O’Connor,Lead Organiser, along with members ofthe youth committee for organising agreat table quiz for a great cause and toBilly Hannigan – compere extraordinaire –on the night.
ToP TaBle The general secretaries’ team
difficUlT one Table quizzers ponder a real poser
focUs foUnder Sr Stanislaus Kennedy spoke at quiz
winners Fortis Trifort – Sean Carabini, Dermot Cawley, Celine McEvoy & Denis Ryan – took honours on the night
Tablequizraisesfundsforfocus
News
GreaT TUrnoUT Participants at the charity table quiz in Nerneys Court
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Summer 2018 CSQ
GENERAL COUNCIL UPDATE By Derek Mullen
The General Council is the main industrial relations forum for Civil Service unions, comprising mainly of senior, elected and full-time officials from Fórsa and other unions as well as senior officials from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER). The Council is established under the Conciliation and Arbitration Scheme. The Committee meets every month to consider claimsfrom the union or management side and ongoing policy matters that affect the terms and conditions of civil servants.
claims from conferenceOver the coming months the Staff Panel,which is the union side of the Council will as-sess motions from the inaugural Civil ServiceDivision conference held in Killarney in mid-April. These motions will become claims be-fore Council where appropriate. Includedamong these will be claims on greater accessto higher scales for the Clerical Officer grade,equality of pay treatment for the Administra-tive Officer grade, flexibility in starting payfor professional and technical grades and im-proved arrangement for force majeure andmarriage leave.
annual leave Motions at the conference also called formore progress on the standardisation ofleave between lower and higher grades. Con-ference also noted the progress in terms ofthe recent award of two extra service-baseddays for COs and EOs and called for the ex-tension of this award to linked departmentalgrades, something that National SecretaryAndy Pike had already been advancing beforethe conference.We also expect a review ofthe annual leave circular to commence thisyear, including the question of the annualleave carry-over arrangements.
sick leave and incrementsThere is a lot of business on-going at Councilincluding the controversial linkage of sickleave and increments. This matter was re-solved in CSO previously but we discoveredthe practice was more widespread, in partic-ular the assessment of sick leave on a prorata basis over the previous 12 months.
Anything more than 14 days, which is onequarter of the 56-day limit used for promo-tional purposes, was being used as a triggerto consider whether an increment should bepaid.
After we raised this matter again at Coun-
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cil, management issued guidelines to the CivilService that appeared to legitimise the linkagewe had complained about. However manage-ment deny this was their plan and have agreedto enter discussions with Fórsa and otherunions at a specially convened sub-committeeof Council. The union will be represented byNational Secretaries Derek Mullen and AndyPike at this forum.
overpaymentsJust as we were debating HR shared servicesat the Civil Service Division conference DPERwere advising us that the policy set out in the
overpayments circular in relation to out ofyear recoupment had to be amended on footof instruction from the Revenue Commission-ers.
This will leave members having to makegross repayments on overpayments thatwere received net of tax, leaving individualshaving to claim tax rebates from Revenue.
The implications of this change are also tobe discussed over the coming weeks. This im-portant matter is also being addressed in en-gagements with senior management over thereview of HR shared services.
discipline codeWe are also returning shortly to discussionson the introduction of a disciplinary code forstaff on probation. This is an important devel-opment and arises from our discussions onthe main disciplinary code which was revisedrecently. Significantly, the Labour Court hasalso judged that employers cannot rely on thefact that staff are on probation to defend thelack of a policy.
MobilityWe have been advised at Council of a six-week delay in the introduction of the new mo-bility scheme as DPER try to future-proof thescheme, particularly in relation to sick leave.This development, we are advised, will ensurethat all staff members remain eligible andtheir sick leave is considered in the round,along with other factors, at the time a mobil-ity opportunity arises.
We are also awaiting draft proposals onphase 1B that involves mobility within Dublin.
eo sequencesWe are also awaiting a revised decision on EOliabilities arising out of discussiond on the in-troduction of the new 60:40 ratio whichfavours internal promotion over open recruit-ment, which was agreed as part of the PSSAtalks last year.
Picture: D
omnick Walsh
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CSQ Summer 2018
Fórsa and other public service unions affiliatedto the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU)met senior officials from the Department ofPublic Expenditure and Reform (DPER) in lateApril in what is expected to be the first of a se-ries of engagements to address pay equity forpublic service ‘new entrants’.
Fórsa has called on the Government to allo-cate funds in October’s Budget to begin short-ening pay scales for new entrants next year.
This would be earlier than originally envis-aged in the current public sector pay deal, thePublic Service Stability Agreement (PSSA).
The union said this could be done by agree-ment between the two sides, and pointed outthat other recent public service agreements –including Croke Park, Haddington Road andLansdowne Road agreements – had beenamended or replaced earlier than set out in thedeals and in response to changing fiscal con-ditions or other factors.
The April meeting was scheduled followingthe publication in mid-March of a DPER reportlooking into salary scales relating to post-Jan-uary 2011 recruits at entry grades. Under thePSSA, DPER accepted a commitment to pub-lish the information within 12 months of the
News
start of the deal in Jan-uary 2018 – but the re-port was publishedsignificantly earlier.
According to Fórsa,there will initially be aseries of engagementsdealing with the practi-calities of equalising thelength of pay scales.
The term ‘new en-trants’ refers to thoseemployed in the civil andpublic service since January 2011, and theynow constitute nearly one in five of public serv-ice workers. Their pay scales are currently twopoints longer than those of other staff, whichmeans it takes them two years longer to get tothe top of their pay scale.
It is understood no money has been bud-geted by the Government to deal with the issuein 2018, and Ministers has not yet concededFórsa’s call for some money to change handsnext year.
However, Fórsa spokesperson Bernard Har-bor told CSQ: “This is an equity issue and, whileno money has been allocated to resolve it in
2018, Fórsa believes that Ireland’s strength-ening economic and exchequer recovery meansit should be possible to start funding it nextyear, rather than delaying until 2020 or be-yond. That would require funds to be allocatedin October’s Budget.
“Negotiators must confront the technicalchallenges presented by the fact that thelength of pay scales varies widely across thecivil and public service. Unions also want to en-sure that any solution is fair to all new entrants,regardless of how long they have been em-ployed.”
He added: “Pay equity is a priority for alltrade unions, and every bit of progress in ad-dressing this injustice has been achieved byunions collectively, through national pay nego-tiations and public service pay agreements.”
The DPER report, titled Examination of Re-maining Salary Scale issues in Respect of Post-January 2011 Recruits at Entry Grades,identified 60,513 new entrants, who make up19% of public service workers. It said fullyequalising the pay scales would cost approxi-mately €199 million. It did not explore theissue of allowances withheld from new en-trants.
Bernard Harbor
Unions engage dPerover new entrants’ pay
i’m reallypooched...
Picture: Domnick Walsh
More pix from divisional conference: centre pages
Doggie delegate at thedivisional conference inKillarney has a breatherafter all the debate...
8
Summer 2018 CSQ
chairpersonNiall McGuirk
vice chairpersonsRonan BolgerAnn McGee
executive committee (former CPSU)Daniel CopperthwaiteStephanie KellySue KellyKathleen McGeeLiam McLoughlinTerry MurphyTanya O’NeillJean TaylorBetty Tyrrell Collard
executive committee (former Impact)Eimear CoddEugene DunneSean LowdeTom MaddenKieran Sheehan
Gerry Wilsonexecutive committee (former PSEU)Melissa BrennanMichael CroweAudrey LyonsDermot McAuleyRhona McEleneyDeirdre MehiganKevin MelinnJack O’ConnorBrian RedmondDenis Ryan
national executive committeeMelissa BrennanSue KellyRhona McEleneyJack O’ConnorTanya O’NeillDenis RyanKieran Sheehan
The inaugural conference of the Civil ServiceDivision was held on 19th and 20th April at theINEC Killarney. More than 600 delegates at-tended from across the Civil Service takingpart in what was a hugely successful first out-ing for the Civil Service Division.
The combined delegates of the formerunions joined together under the Fórsa bannerand it was their collective contribution on a se-ries of key debates that made the conferencethe success it was.
Joint chairs Niall McGuirk, Ann McGee andKieran Sheehan welcomed delegates andmade strong opening speeches stressing theimportance of what we had done in creatingFórsa and the opportunities it now gave us tomake advances for our members.
The strength and unity of delegates wasclear to see in the INEC and there was consid-erable pride in what we had achieved in creat-ing the biggest public service union in Ireland.
What was remarkable about this conferencewas the extent to which delegates merged topresent one voice on the key issues affectingCivil Service members. In the best tradition ofconference, their ire was directed at the em-ployer and, to some extent, the Head OfficeTeam who were pressed to take stronger actionin a number of important motions dealing withpay restoration, starting pay for new entrants,working time and shared services.
Conference kicked off with a motion from theLegal Officers Professional Branch seeking fullpay restoration for civil servants still affectedby FEMPI provisions. There was then a raft ofmotions seeking the abolition of new lowerstarting points for all new entry grades. It wasvery clear from the debate that this a key pri-ority for Fórsa (see story page 7).
The Clerical Officer Branches, including PSOSligo and Limerick, successfully moved mo-tions on greater access to higher scales andthe Buncrana and Probation Branches in-structed the union in their respective motionsto fight for the living wage as a minimum forstarting pay in the Civil Service.
A motion from Agriculture CS Executivegrades continued the pay theme and soughtpay equality for administrative officers.
One of the biggest debates at the confer-ence focused on seven motions seekingrestoration of pre-Haddington Road workinghours. Delegates spoke passionately on theissue making it clear that it had to be a priorityfor Fórsa. Tom Geraghty, in his conference ad-
dress, made it clear that the next opportunityto deal with the matter in a realistic way was inthe next round of pay bargaining.
One of the most difficult debates at the con-ference dealt with PeoplePoint or HR sharedservices as it is now known. Delegates moved11 motions, ranging from a call for a funda-mental review of the service to a full closurewith the return of HR transactions to line de-partments.
Responding to the debate, National Secre-tary Derek Mullen commended the hard workof members in shared services. He told dele-gates: “That HR shared services works at all isdown to the dedication of the civil servantsemployed there. They’ve had an extraordinarilydifficult time in recent years as they try tomake a poor-designed systen function.”
Derek Mullen also spoke about the findingsof the latest survey of union members whichflagged up how 80% of respondents indicat-ing that they had a difficulty with HR sharedservices (see story page 4).
Conference also dealt with a range of mo-tions focusing on promotions including a returnto some level of seniority promotion, a changein the selection methodology favoured by PAS,and appropriate feedback after competitions.
Civil rights were to the fore in a number ofmotions from Culture Heritage & Gaeltachtand Housing. The motions, which called forfreedom of political association and expressionin the Civil Service for grades previously rep-resented by the PSEU, were backed by confer-ence.
The equality agenda was also highlighted atthe conference with motions seeking a reviewof all family-friendly initiatives including work-sharing with a view to addressing some of thelimitations imposed during the economic crisis.
One of the other important pieces of busi-ness at Conference was the election of theCivil Service Divisional Executive. NiallMcGuirk was elected Chair and Ann McGeeand Ronan Bolger elected as Vice Chairs. Thisnew Executive will replace the interim commit-tee in place since January.
Derek [email protected]
Gettingdown tobusiness
elections
Pictures: Dom
nick Walsh
welcoMinG addresses Joint ChairpersonsNiall McGuirk, Ann McGee and Kieran Sheehan
Billy Hannigan, National Secretary and resident pensions expert in Fórsa, delivered a detailed presentation on thiskey issue at the conference. What Billy outlined in the presentation left dele-gates with much to ponder over – and oneof the unintended (or not) consequencesof this was a deluge of queries he received before leaving Killarney.
eXPerT advice Billy Hannigan
CSQ Summer 2018
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CSQ Summer 2018
Divisional Conference 2018
Fórsa General Secretary (Public Service) TomGeraghty has called on the Government to setaside funding to begin shortening pay scalesfor new entrants to the public service next year– at least a year sooner than what was set outin the Public Sector Stability Agreement(PSSA) brokered in the summer of 2017.
Geraghty, who is also secretary of ICTU Pub-lic Services Committee, made the call in aspeech to 700 delegates gathered for theunion’s inaugural Civil Service Division confer-ence in Killarney in April.
He told conference: “While it is correct to saythat no monies have been allocated [by theGovernment] to do this in 2018, I believe thatIreland’s strengthening economic and excheq-uer recovery means it should be possible tostart funding it next year, rather than delayinguntil 2020 or beyond. That would require fundsto be allocated in October’s Budget.”
At present, the pay scales of civil and publicservants who entered employment since 2011– some 53,000 workers according DPER fig-ures – are currently two points longer thanother staff which effectively means it takethem two years longer to reach the top of theirpay scale.
Claiming pay equity was key a priority for alltrade unions, Geraghty told delegates: “The im-position of two-tier pay scales, which were
10% lower at each point for new staff, wereimposed in January 2011. They were amongthe many cuts, including pay cuts averaging14% for all civil and public servants, imposedwithout agreement by the then-Government in2009-2010.”
Citing the 2013 Haddington Road Agree-ment as well as the PSSA, he continued: “Sincethen, every bit of progress in addressing this in-justice has been achieved by unions collec-tively, through national pay negotiations andpublic service pay agreements.”
He told delegates that unions would shortlybe engaging with DPER officials again on theissue with the aim of equalising the length ofpay scales and pressing for them to be short-ened “as quickly as possible”.
Pinpointing working hours as “one of thebiggest grievances” felt by members, Geraghtywarned conference of the difficulty involved inshifting the Government’s position on the issue.
He said: “The fact that despite all the timeand effort devoted to it, we could not budge theemployer to roll back any part of the additionalworking time is, itself, an indicator of how diffi-cult it will continue to be to make any progresson the matter and it would be foolish of me toappear to make any promises on the issue.”
Though some headway had been made ongiving workers the option to revert to pre-
Haddington Road hours with an accompanyingcut in salary or to use annual leave as hours onthe clock, the problem remained “unresolved”,adding, “perhaps the only promise that can bemade is that we will revisit [it] in future negoti-ations.”
Turning to HR Shared Services, formerlyPeoplePoint, Geraghty referred to a recent sur-vey of members that had flagged up “a widerange of difficulties across the entire span ofHR interactions”. Listing these “horrendous ex-periences”, they involved members owing “sub-stantial amounts of money” throughoverpayments as well as underpayments and
delays in payments and he pointed out that theconcern of members was reflected in the num-ber of motions on the subject at conference.
However, he emphasised that members ofthe union working in HR Shared Services werenot to be blamed for the “systematic failings ofan organisation for which they are not respon-sible”.
Geraghty referred also in his speech to therestoration of a 5% cut to allowances made in2010 – and said that union negotiators wouldbe “seeking a 2019 solution” to the issue.
On training and organisation, Geraghtytalked up the “significant possiblities” that hadbeen created by the formation of the newunion. He said: “We now have the capacity tolink into a team of organisers to assistbranches in recruitment and organisation. Weneed to develop an approach wherebybranches in the Civil Service can avail of thisfacility.
We now [also] have the opportunities to de-velop branch activists through a wider range oftraining courses to enable activists to grow thenecessary skill-sets to carry out their functionseffectively.”
In his concluding remarks, Geraghty said theformation of Fórsa had created an “enormouspotential” to improve members’ lives and thatit was “up now up to all of us to realise the po-tential that we have created”.
After thanking members of the DivisionalCommittee and fellow officials, he praised del-egates and activists for all the work they didfor members. He also directed his commentstowards the general membership of the union.
“We never take them for granted and wenever forget that this is their organisation andthat we are their servants.”
our potential for change
we never take our membersfor granted and never
forget that this is their organisation and
we are their sevants
PaY eQUiTY a PrioriTY Tom Geraghtyhit out at imposition of two-tier pay scales
Geraghty sets out Fórsa agenda for coming year in keynote address
Picture: D
omnick Walsh
10
Summer 2018 CSQCSQ Summer 2018CSQ Summer 2018
KeYnoTe address Tom Geraghty
sPeaKer Yvette Kelly deleGaTes Aoife Enright & Paddy Harte
sPeaKer Fran Grimes
aPPlaUse Billy Hannigan, Andy Pike and Kieran Sheehan
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CSQ Summer 2018
Divisional Conference 2018Pictures: Domnick Walsh
arrival Mark Smyth and Maurice Magee all sMiles Delegates take a break in the sun outside conference
aPPreciaTion Standing ovation from delegates for veteran trade unionist George Maybury who is retiring in December. Fórsa conference tweet (inset)
deleGaTes Niall Lynch & Niall Neely aPPlaUse Delegate John Flanagan
sHarinG a JoKe Don Deane, Deirdre Fanning & Brian Burns
Summer 2018 CSQ
12
Many years ago I was a young Executive Of-ficer in the Department of the Taoiseach. Ateam of senior officials lead by DermotNally, and including Wally Kirwan and FrankMurray, worked hard from that departmentto build relationships and forge links inNorthern Ireland and with British counter-parts.
It was slow, painstaking work that oftenlooked to be pointless and it took manyyears to bear full fruit. Frank passed awayrecently and my mind went back to the end-less frustrations that he bore in that periodwith his characteristic patience and self-ef-facing persistence.
Frank went on subsequently to be theSecretary to the Government and, as weknow, Northern Ireland eventually saw acessation of violence.
It was the greatest living Irishman, JohnHume, somebody with whom Frank workedclosely, who, seeing beyond the latestbloody atrocity by the IRA or their loyalistmirror images, identified presciently thatthe problem of Northern Ireland is that theproblem of Northern Ireland never changes.Frank Murray had the necessary personalattributes to contribute to addressing thatunderlying problem of sectarian tribalism.
He was a reserved man who never soughtthe limelight, who, in the best Civil Servicetradition, kept his political views to himselfand made himself useful in the best possiblesense to successive governments of varying
Back in now what seems a different era, del-egates to PSEU conferences had to figureout from the agenda what was under discus-sion. Ronan Lenihan changed that. As amember of the Standing Orders Committee,Ronan introduced the technology, now com-monplace but innovative for its time, of anelectronic display on screen of the itemunder discussion.
Before he became a PSEU stalwart,Ronan had served his time as a CPSU ac-tivist and, in later years, had served on theAHCPS Standing Orders Committee.
The term ‘larger than life’ could have beeninvented for him. Being single for much ofhis life, Ronan brought his mother aroundthe world with him.
frank Murray r.i.P.
Tributes
ronan lenihan r.i.P.
hues. He represented the continuation of atime-honoured commitment to service thatcharacterises the best public servants.
Like so many before third level becameaccessible to all but the rich, Frank acquiredhis third level qualification on a part-timebasis after entry to the Civil Service. Hewent on to use those qualifications to edu-cate others and he lectured me in publicmanagement in the Institute of Public Ad-ministration, when I followed the same path
of part-time study. Indeed, our paths were tocross again many years later when Frankchaired the board of the IPA, of which I was amember, both of us happy to give somethingback to an institution from which we had bene-fited. Frank’s chairing reflected his relaxed, tol-erant style.
My predecessor as PSEU general secretary,Dan Murphy, often recalled Frank’s role in get-ting a small association of Oireachtas clerks tojoin the CSEU back at a very early stage inFrank’s career. I always found it hard to recon-cile Frank’s easy-going, diplomatic style withthe idea of union activism. After he left theOireachtas and before I knew him, Frank wasprivate secretary to the late Liam Cosgravewhen he was Taoiseach, so he was always des-tined to go on to be influential which, given hispersonal attributes, is no surprise to anybodywho knew him.
I did not realise that Frank has been ap-pointed as a commissioner for the ‘Disap-peared’ after his retirement but I can see whyhe was an obvious choice. His pleasant, calmand efficient air would have given great com-fort to the poor families and would have offeredthe assurance of integrity to the murderers,whose help is required in finding the sites ofthose who lie in cold, unmarked graves.
His family have said that he derived greatcomfort from the fact that 13 bodies of the vic-tims have been recovered and have now beengiven a decent burial.
The families of victims have lost a friend withFrank’s passing; Leitrim has lost one of itsproudest sons and Ireland has lost an out-standing public servant but the loss to his fam-ily is the greatest of all and it is to them that weextend our heartfelt sympathies.
Tom GeraghtyGeneral Secretary/Public Service
When he married Mary and took on therole of stepdad and grandad, Ronan wascompleted. So, it was doubly sad that Maryand family and Ronan’s beloved mother, Ida,should have been forced to bid farewell tothis big, kind-hearted man.
Ronan loved to tell stories. The one thathe often recounted is about the day when hewas leaving Leinster House that he was mis-taken for the late Jackie Healy-Rae and wasassaulted by protestors. I am not sure whathurt most, whether it was the assault or theaffront to be mistaken for a man with an un-mistakable hairstyle!
I dealt with Ronan in his capacity as anOireachtas clerk and he served our demo-cratic institutions with distinction.
Ronan had poor health in recent times andtook early retirement to try to battle illness.Sadly, it was a battle that ultimately he wasto lose. He was a good man and we shall notsee his like again.
Tom GeraghtyGeneral Secretary/Public Service
Loss of an outstandingpublic servant
Union stalwart and a born story-teller
13
CSQ Summer 2018
News
A Fórsa claim to the Civil Service ArbitrationBoard has secured the creation of a new spe-cialist grade for agricultural laboratory atten-dants working in regional DAFM laboratories.
Following a lengthy period of negotiation theclaim was referred for arbitration, the Boardrecommended the creation of a new specialistgrade with the existing post mortem allowancebeing incorporated into a new scale whichwould then be increased by between 1.5%and 2%.
Discussions on implementation of this bind-ing recommendation will now take place withFGE Branch members and DAFM manage-ment.
The arbitration finding does not meet the fullexpectations of members carrying out difficult,demanding and complex work within the AgriLab. However, the finding is significant in thatit is the first report issued for many years thatrecommends structural changes and a newgrade beneficially affecting pay levels.
The Forensic Science Branch is seeking a re-vised framework for assessing startingsalaries on appointment from the private sec-tor in response to growing recruitment and re-tention difficulties within the service.
If such an approach is agreed staff wouldcome in at a scale point commensurate withskills, qualifications and experience, whichwould counteract the problem of poor reten-tion of staff now affecting the service.
Members of the OCFA Branch inDFAT were recently balloted on aproposal to create a new careerand grade structure for develop-ment specialists working in Ireland
and overseas. The ballot was a tiewith 20 members voting for theproposal and 20 against. Fórsastaff are now working with thebranch to identify a way forward.
Fórsa members in the CSO are taking a claim to adjudication seeking the restoration of their collective agreement onjump increments. This agreement providedfor accelerated incremental progression forprofessional staff (jump increments) after anumber of years’ service to assist with theretention of staff.
Following the imposition of the morato-A Fórsa claim for new employment contractsfor ministerial drivers (Members of Civil Serv-ice No.1 Branch) has still not been resolved.The union is seeking a new contractual frame-work setting out clearly rights to subsistencepayments, annual leave and security of tenurefor Fórsa members employed to drive for Min-isters and Cabinet members.
One of our members is due to have an unfairdismissal claim heard by the WRC shortly andthe outcome of this claim may inform discus-sions in the future.
rium on recruitment of statisticians, DPER withdrew from the agreement without informing the union or staff.
Now that recruitment has taken placeagain, several members have reached thepoint on the scale where these provisionsshould apply and on that basis Fórsa isseeking the application of the agreementfor new entrant members.
new specialist gradefor agri lab attendants
agri news
Professional and Technical
Meanwhile our Agriculture No 1 Branch at-
tended an adjudication hearing over members
being required to conduct additional carcass
trim checks in meat plants. The additional trim
checks will now commence with a review in 12
months’ time.
Separately Fórsa has secured payment for
technical agricultural officers of the DAFM
livestock allowance (ICD) of €3,500 to new
entrants with payment backdated to 1st Jan-
uary 2018.
Finally in Agriculture the Fórsa Agri Labs
Branch (representing technical and scientific
staff) is to consult members on submitting as
claim to DAFM that the minimum entry level
qualification should be established as FETAC
Level 8 for all laboratory analyst posts.
If this claim were to succeed it would estab-
lish the laboratory analyst post as an Honours
graduate position securing the professional
status of the grade.
Return of jump increments sought
Ministerial driversclaim still unresolved
Revisions sought overnew salary framework The remit of CORU, the regulatory body for health professionals, is
shortly to be extended to cover educational psychologists and proba-tion officers. The existing Fórsa ‘fitness to practice’ scheme will be ex-tended to members of both branches. The scheme provides for legalrepresentation in relation to any complaint brought before CORU in re-lation to professional practice.
‘fitness to practice’ extension
dead heat in ocfa ballot overcareer structure proposals
Picture: L
ives
tock Ethique & Anim
aux L2
14 (C
C BY 2.0)
By Andy Pike
14
Summer 2018 CSQ
data Protection commissioner
agriculture
The establishment of the Data Pro-tection Commissioner (DPC) as ascheduled office was initially ear-marked for 25th May when Gen-eral Data Protection Regulations(GDPR) came into force.
Some functions will transfer toDPC in May but it is not envisagedthat it will be set up as a scheduledoffice until later in the year or, pos-sibly, early next year.
Members, who are currently em-ployees of the Department of Jus-tice & Equality, have raised
concerns about the lack of promo-tional opportunities, training andcareer development available inthe new organisation.
While members have access to awide array of work and to internalpromotions across the Depart-ment of Justice & Equality, at pres-ent this access will no longer beavailable when the DPC becomesa scheduled office. The union willdiscuss a career path for memberswith DPC management as well asother retention mechanisms.
dPc set to become a scheduled office
Picture: U
K MInistry of Defen
ce (C
C BY-
NC 2.0)
Combined Services Third World Fund
Since it was founded in 1980, the Combined Services Third World Fund has spent more than €8 million on development projects and emergency aid grants
throughout the developing world.
The CSTWF is able to do this because of the generous contributions made by employeesand pensioners of the Civil Service, An Post, eir & other State agencies.
Contributions are deducted at source from salary/pensionat a rate of either 0.1% or 0.2% of basic pay – your choice – working out
at one cent or two cents for every €10 of pay/pension.
Makes a lot of sensefor just a few cents...
FIND OUT MORE...TEL: 00 353 1 4082473/75 EMAIL: [email protected] WEB: www.cstwf.ie
Picture: John Martinez Pavliga (CC BY 2.0)
Difficulties arose in recent weeks overmanagement proposals to reinvigoratethe partnership process and engage withstaff as part of this initiative.
However, agreement was reached atDepartmental Council to ensure that theunion role in all of this will be respectedby the Department. In fact, there is to bea meeting very shortly to discuss all thedetail including structures, selection ofreps, agenda items and the interaction ofcentral partnership with local commit-tees.
On the former PSEU side, we will meetmanagement on the 21st May to discusscross-stream reporting as well asAO/HEO issues.
Meanwhile, on the professional andtechnical front discussions continue on arange of fronts including the AS reviewwhich is nearing completion.
Dates are agreed for the Review Com-mittee to meet with the Chief VeterinaryOfficer and the Chief Inspector. The Re-view Committee will then be in a positionto issue the final report shortly afterthese meetings take place.
Management has given a commitmentto hold an AS competition as soon as thereview is completed.
They have also informed Fórsa thatthat a new TAO recruitment competitionwill be advertised in May 2018.
Union’s role inpartnership tobe respected
Paul MacSweeneyAGS, Civil Service Division
15
CSQ Summer 2018
News
Talks are continuing over the Irish Prison Serv-ice (IPS) becoming a stand-alone organisation.
Arising out of further discussions, a writtenproposal was put to members in a ballot overthe proposed setting up of the IPS as a sched-uled office which would proceed on an admin-istrative basis.
In turn, there will be an internal competitionto fill six or seven AP positions and three orfour PO posts (these numbers are indicative).Internal competitions will start with PO com-petition, then AP, HEO and EO.
It has been further agreed that there will beongoing discussions on:
l Management of HR function for HQ staff;l Learning and development opportunities;l Higher scales;
The Department of Employment Affairs andSocial Protection recently issued an office no-tice 36/2018 regarding the management ofrepeated/ongoing sporadic short-term ab-sences using a HR tool called the BradfordFactor. Fórsa has requested a managementmeeting to discuss this notice and have con-firmed that this is not an agreed position andnoted that DPER has been asked to withdrawthe disputed sick leave and increment docu-ment which led to this office notice in DEASP.
Discussions continue in Revenue on PAYEmodernisation and Revenue realignment,which is a restructuring by any other name.
Fórsa voiced criticism at DepartmentalCouncil over the fact that staff communica-tion was getting ahead of union engage-ment on some of the key aspects of theseissues. In particular we were concernedthat management were communicatingcustomer service requirements directly tostaff in circumstances where we hadn’t
even started a discussion regarding theopening hours of the main Revenue 1890line, where they had indicated a require-ment for longer opening. However, followingour discussion at Council, it was agreedthat talks will commence in May.
Also the union is in talks with Revenueabout the implementation of the adjudica-tion finding for former-PSEU grades whichdealt with a long-standing claim related to“debts” due to direct promotion panels.
iPs as a stand-alone org irish Prison service
dept of Justice & equality
Garda civilians
revenue deasP
l Sequencing arrangements.Clerical Officer recruitment for IPS in Long-
ford has also started and Fórsa has written toIPS HR advising them that the competitioncan only be used to fill 50% of the CO vacan-cies with the other half to be filled by way of
Talks continue on PAYE modernisation ‘Bradford Factor’ toolused by management
transfer, as per central agreement. Due to delays in rolling out the mobility sys-
tem HR has been advised that the centraltransfer list should be used to fill the CO va-cancies liable to be filled by transfer.
By Derek Mullen
There are numerous discus-sions and briefings taking placein the Garda civilian area atpresent.
These include the duty rosterand management system, Hy-brid Policing Model, continuingcivilianisation, General DataProtection Regulations Initia-
tive, Cultural Audit, Code ofEthics, Divisional ProtectiveUnits, Performance Accounta-bility framework, Garda MobilityProject, Performance Manage-ment and Learning Framework(for gardaí), Computer AidedDispatch, and Accommodationlimitations in Templemore.
There are also area-specificissues such as the staffing re-quirements for the crime reclas-sification project in GISC,Castlebar, as well as an issuearound a Saturday allowancefor a small number of people,where discussions continue.
Fórsa held a bilateral with HR on thestaffing implications of the transferof financial functions from the Department in Killarney to the National Shared Services Office(NSSO). Further discussions withNSSO and Department of Justice HRare set to be held in May.
Our main concerns relate to clarityon work being transferred to ourmembers in Killarney, work for payrollstaff remaining in Justice, career progression and ensuring that thetransfer from one employer to theother runs smoothly. The transitionacross to the NSSO, initially scheduled for June 2018, willprogress at a later stage.
Financial functionstransfer to NSSO –the impact on staff
Discussions continue with manage-ment on staffing pressures in theNSSO. We had a recent meetingwith management of payroll in Kil-larney to discuss related matters. Itwas agreed to keep staffing underreview over the course of the year.Similar talks are expected on the
HR shared services side. There aredelays in the transition of staff toNSSO as part of the developmentof Financial Management SharedServices but in the meantime weare to consider draft proposals toallow staff who are pending transferinto NSSO competitions.
nsso staffing pressures
Multiple issues discussed with management
Tom GeraghtyGeneral Secretary/Public Service
16
Summer 2018 CSQ
coloMBia:the pain goes on...
When I was in Colombia in 2014 as part of aBritish/Irish trade union and parliamentary delegation, hopes for peace were high. The 50-year civil war was the subject of talks. All thesigns were that the FARC guerrillas and Presi-dent Santos wanted a peaceful end to the conflict and a movement towards a mod-ernising of the economy.
One academic warned us, however, that es-sential as peace was, the dismantling of struc-tures created in conflict would bring with itinevitable volatility and the probability of lessstructured, but no less deadly, violence.
He cited as an example the descent of formerright-wing paramilitaries into a cycle of criminalviolence and the killing of human rights defend-ers by them after their formal paramilitarystructures had been dismantled. Sadly, he hasproved to be prescient in his analysis.
2017 was the first full year of peace in morethan half a century. It was also the deadliest forhuman rights defenders, with 121 killed (com-pared with 60 in 2016). One cause is thatright-wing paramilitaries have moved into former FARC territories and those who seek todefend land rights become easy targets. Indeed, the more remote the area the greaterthe risks and the higher the casualties.
It is an indication of the economic element ofthe killings and the link to issues of land and re-sources that, apparently, three out of fivekillings are carried out by contract killers. Thisis not a consequence of spontaneous con-
and women of Colombia who standby and speak for the poor and the
dispossessed of that country.
Until or unless, the central govern-ment directs its attention to the
protection of its own people,the problem will continue.
In 2014, I asked a high-ranking army officer, “Whatare you going to do to stopmen for whom you are re-sponsible from murderingyour own people?”
The people of Colom-bia still await an adequate
response.
frontation, it is a consequence of cold calculation that puts activists of all types,including trade unionists, at risk.
Within the official government, there arethose who make a genuine attemptto ensure the rule of law and thestate’s Inspector General is onrecord as condemning the seeming inability of the state to protect social activists. It is an obviously validpoint. In 2016, the sum totalof four convictions were se-cured for such killings.
It is an awful irony thatpeace should have increasedthe danger for the brave men
deadlY TollThe sign reads‘Five murders in48 hours’...
siGn of PeacePresident Santosand FARC leaderTimoleon Jimenezshake hands aftersigning 2016peace deal
Picture: Marcha Patriotica
International
CSQ Summer 2018
17
CSQ Summer 2018
TransfersMJ17eo, DAFM Johnston Castle Wexford,seeks transfer to any Government of-fice in Cork. This is a pleasant ruralparkland building with a lot of car park-ing, canteen and flexi time. It is 10mins drive from Wexford town.
MJ18eo, Central Statistics Office Cork, 4.5day week (willing to increase to 5 days),seeks transfer to any department in Mi-dleton or Youghal for personal reasons.Friendly working environment, flexitimeand parking available.
MJ19eo, Department of Education & Skills,Athlone, seeks head to head transferto any Government department inRoscommon town for commuting reasons. Flexi time, Car park and canteen available.
MJ20eo, full time, Central Statistics Office,Cork seeks transfer to any Governmentdepartment in Tipperary town, Cahir,Thurles, Clonmel or anywhere in SouthTipperary for personal reasons.
MJ21eo, Revenue Commissioners, SouthGeorges St Dublin 2, seeks head tohead transfer to Department of
To place an ad, or apply to one listed, email [email protected]
Government department in Limerick,Tipperary town, Thurles, Cahir or Clonmel.
MJ31Heo, Full-Time, Revenue Commission-ers Sligo seeks transfer to any Depart-ment in Sligo or Leitrim, to broadenexperience. Flexi-time and parkingavailable.
MJ32Heo, full time, Central Statistics Office,Rathmines, Dublin 6 seeks transfer toany dept/office in Laois/Offaly/New-bridge/Kildare area for commuting purposes. Family friendly office with carparking and flexi time available.
MJ33Heo, Department of Public Expenditure& Reform, Dublin 2 seeks transfer toany Government department/office inDublin city centre. Flexi time and work-sharing available. Transfer to broaden experience.
Defence Newbridge or possibly anyother department in Kildare. Flexi time,canteen and free parking available.
MJ22eo, full time, Director of Public Prosecutions, Dublin 7 seeks head tohead transfer to any Dept/Office onsouthside or city centre for commutingreasons. Non public/friendly office, interesting work. Flexi time and freecar parking available. Next to HeustonLuas stop and train station.
MJ23Heo, full time, NSSO, Galway. Seekstransfer to Clare/Limerick for commut-ing purposes only. Lovely location,friendly people, flexi, canteen & free carparking available.
MJ24Heo, full time, Department of Culture,Heritage and the Gaeltacht seekstransfer to any Government departmentin Longford, Westmeath or Roscommonfor family and commuting reasons.Friendly office with flexi time available.
MJ25Heo, full time, Department of Educa-tion & Skills, Athlone seeks head tohead transfer to any Government De-partment in North Tipperary or LimerickCity for commuting and family reasons.
Canteen and car-parking facilities avail-able.
MJ26Heo, Revenue Waterford, seeking transfer any Department in Kilkenny forfamily/commuting reasons. Free parkingand flexi time available, with opportuni-ties for promotion.
MJ27Heo, National Shared Services Office,Deerpark Building, Killarney wishes totransfer with a HEO in Cork. All areas inCork initially considered. Flexitime/park-ing etc. available
MJ28Heo, Revenue Commissioners, Let-terkenny seeks transfer to any otherGovernment department/office in CoDonegal in order to broaden experience.Friendly office with flexi-time and park-ing available.
MJ29Heo, full time, Department of Defence,Newbridge seeks a transfer to any department in Portlaoise for commutingreasons. Flexi time, canteen and carpark available.
MJ30Heo seeks permanent work share posi-tion (50%) with another HEO in any
The first phase of the Civil Service MobilityScheme was launched on 13th November,2017. However offers of mobility did not beginon 22nd March 2018 as expected. This datehas been postponed in order to reconfigure themobility system. It is expected that an alert willbe issued to all staff members with informationin advance of the new offer date.
The following transfer lists will continue tooperate until offers of mobility begin:
l The Central Transfer Lists;l Organisations’ Internal Regional
Transfer Lists;l Head for Head Transfers.This postponement will allow for legacy date
verifications to be completed. These verifica-tions will now be processed in batches, ratherthan when an officer enters the top 10 on awaitlist.
Automatic email notifications will be issuedto officers in the current batch of applicationsbeing processed. These notifications will indi-cate that action is required by the applicant.
Please note: the window for applying alegacy date to a mobility application closed on8th February 2018.
During the legacy verification process, themobility waitlist positions may change due to
calibration. Applicants can view/request* theirplacing on any waitlists applied for.
* remote worker/absent on leave with no ac-cess to self-service – contact the Central Mo-bility Team at [email protected].
* Non-HR Shared Services customer (AGS,Oireachtas), please contact your Local HR.
* Non-HRMS customer (IPS, OCO, NCCA)currently no mechanism to view or check plac-ing on list.
what is civil service Mobility?Civil Service Mobility is one of a number of
arrangements to be put in place to fulfil the re-quirements of Action 15 of the Civil ServiceRenewal Plan that calls to “Expand career andmobility/transfer opportunities for staff acrossgeographic, organisational and sectoralboundaries”.
when will the scheme launch?The mobility scheme is being developed for
the Civil Service on a phased basis:Phase 1A is for the general Civil Service
grades of CO and EO for mobility betweenzones (all zones) and within zones (excludingZone 46 – Dublin) – this phase successfullylaunched on 13th November 2017 to approx-
imately 17,000 participating staff members tosubmit a mobility application. The date for of-fers of mobility has been postponed in order toreconfigure the mobility system.
Phase 1B will include the general Civil Serv-ice grades of CO and EO for mobility within thezone of Dublin. It is envisaged that Phase 1Bwill be launched following a full analysis of theoutcomes from Phase 1A of the scheme. Thisphase will launch at a later date. Fórsa expectsdiscussions on Phase 1B to start shortly.
Phase 2 will include the general Civil Servicegrades of HEO, AO and AP. This phase willlaunch at a later date.
Equivalent Professional and Technicalgrades are not covered under early phases ofthe scheme and consideration will be given tomobility for these grades at a later date.
Transfers advertised in CSQ will be phasedout as the mobility scheme takes over, exceptfor the HEO grade who are due to be in thenext phase of mobility.
CO’s and EO’s will be governed by thescheme which takes over from the head tohead transfers generally sought on this page.
civil service mobility update
congratulations, niall, on your election as chair of the civil service division, tell mea little about yourself and the drivingforces that led you to such an active rolein the trade union movement?Thanks, Derek. I am a family man with threechildren. I enjoy sport, particularly two of mykids’ hurling teams which I help out with, andreading. I have been in the Civil Service since1987, and have worked in I.T. since 1999. I amcurrently in the Department of Taoiseach.
My Father, a SIPTU shop steward, firstpiqued my interest in the trade union move-ment. The first time I took notice of what atrade union can do was during the McDonaldsstrike in 1979. I was 11 years old and stand-ing on O’Connell Street on a cold St Patrick’sDay. We had been hanging around for a goodwhile and I was looking longingly at people onthe first floor of McDonalds on O’ConnellStreet who were waiting for the parade in thewarmth. I needed to use the bathroom andasked my Dad if could I go in. He firmly said no– there was a picket on McDonalds and therewas no way I could pass this. I didn’t under-stand it but my Dad’s words to me – “When peo-ple are on strike, you respect their wishes” –has struck a chord. Workers need to stick to-gether and when they do their fellow workersneed to support them.
I ran for election to our Executive Committeewhen I felt that the Executive needed to bemore proactive and communicate better withthe members. It coincided with slashes to ourterms and conditions as the country hit adownward spiral. I believe that the membersare the voice of the union and that voice needsto be heard at the Executive Committee tableand raised at every opportunity.
what is you most hope to achieve aschair of the civil service division?I would like to try and bring unity. By unity Imean that I would like people to feel that theirissues can be brought to the Divisional Execu-tive no matter what they are and no matterwhere they come from.
I want to try to ensure there is as little dis-connect as possible between members of theunion and those who are elected. I feel theelected people are “ordinary” Executive mem-bers and the officials are “ordinary” officials(doing a very good job) but the union memberis the “extraordinary” one. There is a languagearound ordinary members and top tables thatdoesn’t sit right with me and I want to alsohighlight that. This union is about the member-
ship. We have just come from our divisionalconference which was a great opportunity forpeople from different grades in not only thesame departments but across the service tomeet. This was a forum to exchange ideas andsee where things can go. It all starts from thebranch member and makes its way through thetree that way. Members have the power to de-cide union policy and the direction we wouldlike to see things going.
I don’t want members of branches to feelswamped by the new divisional structure. Iwant all branches – regardless of size or his-tory – to feel they have an ear at their Execu-tive. I also want them to feel that this is THEIRunion to shape.
what are the biggest challenges, in yourview, facing fórsa in the civil service?Challenge 1: Getting away from a mindset of“this is the way we used to do things”. In manyways Fórsa can be like a blank canvas. Weshould question the way we go about doingeverything and see if there’s a better way.Take conferences, for example, is it the bestuse of getting so many activists together? I’mnot saying it’s not but let’s review it. We gotthrough over 130 motions at the Civil ServiceDivisional Conference in April but why not askthe question is that the sole purpose of Con-ference? Maybe it is.
Many of us were on sub committees thathave been brought in historically. Are thesethe best committees and structures we needto have? Should it be that we extend activism
conversationsniall McGuirk is Chair of Civil Service Division at Fórsa
i want branches to feel theyhave an ear at the executive
Niall McGuirk was in conversation with Derek Mullen
Picture: Domnick Walsh
UPBeaT ‘Fórsa can be a positive force’
18
out and not worry about roles – just concernourselves with reaching out to people.
Challenge 2: Showing that bigger is better.I firmly believe that having more members onlymakes us stronger. However, we need to makethe members aware of this. Show how it helpsas we go along.
Challenge 3: Engaging with the member-ship. Our ‘extraordinary’ members should feelstrengthened by the sheer force of numbersand more confident. We can get to a stagewhere the communication goes one way with alarge volume of emails coming from HQ andmagazines every quarter. Is this the best wayto utilise our potential?
Challenge 4: Branch structure. This is atough one. Some branches are completelyhesitant to change while others are in need ofit. Our real challenge lies in getting the balanceright. At what stage does it make sense tohave one rep at Departmental Council repre-senting all our grades without former branchesfeeling they are getting less of a service? A lotof this work will lie in the branch membershipsgetting together and deciding for themselves.This should evolve from the membership andfit their requirements, not solely what is seenas the correct fit from HQ.
finally, your thoughts on fórsa – what will its creation mean for its members and indeed the delivery of public services in ireland?Fórsa, for me, means a better way of workingtogether with the people I work with to createa better work environment. It gives a strongvoice to those providing public services. I hopeit will allow us to dispel any myths about thepublic service. We now have the potential, asan 80,000 strong union, to present our side ofthe story.
Fórsa can help explain the reality of pensionprovision for many of its members. Fórsa canhighlight the fact that some public servants’earnings are below the Living Wage. Fórsa canshow how the extra hours that were imposedon its members are having an effect through-out society, be that childcare costs or less timefor volunteerism.
Fórsa can be a positive force in the country,treating people fairly and equally. It can havesuch a strong voice, and we have a great op-portunity in shaping what that voice has to sayfor the betterment of ALL citizens availing ofpublic services.
Summer 2018 CSQ
EXCLUSIVELY AVAILABLE TO FÓRSAMEMBERS & THEIR SPOUSES OR PARTNERS
1890 989 511forsa.glennons.ie
CSQ Summer 2018
across7. St. Tiarnach’s Park is here (6)
8. Second book of the
Old Testament (6)
9. Units of electric current (4)
10. Star Gate at Henley? (8)
11. He could be Jay, Will,
Simon or Neil (11)
14. Austrian artist, creator
of The Kiss (6, 5)
18. Shark and farm machinery (8)
19. Anything… Cole Porter musical (4)
20. Eva Jonsson, Swedish
television presenter (6)
21. Vladimir ….Lenin (6)
down1. Scottish bacteriologist
- discovered Penicillin (7)
2. Australian rock band, fronted by
Michael Hutchence (4)
3. Arrangement under which a deed,
money, security, or other property
or document is held by a neutral
third-party (6)
4. Three nautical miles (6)
5. Synth pop duo from
the 1980’s (4, 4)
6. Writer known for The Three
Musketeers and The Count
of Monte Cristo (5)
12. Uisce beatha, in France (3, 2, 3)
13. Charge an official with an offence
committed while in office (7)
15. Iranian capital (6)
16. Roman poet at Anfield (6)
17. After this - hood, birth and proof (5)
19. Spanish painter (1746 -1828) (4)
SOLUTIONS Prize Crossword 01/18
across
down
crossword 01/18 winnereileen clifford, Dept of Agriculture, Cork.
A €100 one4all voucher will go to the first correct solution opened.
Crossword entries for crossword 02/18 should be addressed to: The editor, Civil Service Quarterly, adelaide House, 19/20 adelaide road, dublin d02 wa00 to arrive not later than friday, 27th July, 2018
name
work address
Union Branch
……………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
1. Camels; 4. Audit; 8. Mahon; 9. Egotism;10. Causton; 11. Pele; 12. Els; 14. She; 15. Ajax; 18. Nos; 21. Oboe; 23. Hepatic; 25. Britain; 26. Inner; 27. Ennui; 28. Tenors.
1. Comics; 2. Mahouts; 3. Lengthen; 4. AWOL;5. Drive; 6.Tommen; 7. Keane; 13. Sapphire; 16. Antonio; 17. Robbie; 19. Shine; 20. Scores; 22. Orion; 24. Dali.
02/18 Prize crossword
