Job losses rather than gains likely in public service

THE PARLOUS state of the public finances will dominate public sector recruitment over the coming year, with the Government under pressure to introduce pay and recruitment freezes and to make as many as 30,000 people redundant.

It is therefore likely that recruitment will be very limited in 2009.

At present, some 373,000 people are employed in the public service, with latest statistics showing that employment increased by 7,500 in the year to June 2008.

Proponents of a major redundancy programme argue that a 10 per cent drop in public sector numbers would give rise to an annual €1.5 billion saving in salary alone, while defenders of the sector say that any cuts in job numbers will lead to significant declines in the quality of services being offered.

Against this background, the Government has set up a special group to identify posts and activities that are "not essential" in the public sector, the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes, or "An Bord Snip Nua", as it is being called. Expectations are that the group will propose significant redundancies across the public sector, which will be imposed over the next 18 to 24 months.

Already, the health sector has announced plans to reduce its numbers, which increased by 2,000 to 110,500 from March to June of this year, and has embarked on a 1,000-job redundancy programme. Aimed at surplus administrative staff in the Health Service Executive (HSE), the programme is also going to be extended to personnel at hospital and community services level.

Job reductions are also likely in state agencies, where additional rationalisation is expected. Already, the Government has announced plans to reduce the number of State bodies by 41, which includes the amalgamation of the Equality Authority and the Human Rights Commission and the abolition of the National Crime Council, while the Special Group has also been given a remit of establishing whether more agencies can be rationalised to "give better value for money".

Tommy Quinn, head of human resources at the Public Appointments Service (PAS), a shared recruitment service for the public sector, doesn't anticipate any expansion of job numbers in 2009, but says that there will be limited recruitment for specific posts.

"We do anticipate some recruitment, due to factors such as natural wastage, but overall we anticipate that departments will be more careful and will be driven by Government policy," he says.

At present, most of the advertised jobs for the public sector are in the medical field, with An Garda Siochána looking to hire an occupational health physician, with a salary of €97,617 to €120,382, but there also exist a limited number of other opportunities. For example, South Dublin County Council is looking to recruit a county librarian, with a salary of €68,839 to €90,595.

With regards to graduate recruitment, most permanent posts in the public sector are filled from panels of candidates selected by competitive examination by the PAS.

Because a competition was run during the summer of 2008 for administrative officers - a middle-ranking executive position in the civil service, or third secretary, there will be no openings during 2009.

According to Quinn, the current panel, from which future job openings at this level will be filled, is due to run for 18 months, and so there will be no open competition during 2009.

However, some bodies will undertake recruitment themselves. The Central Bank, for example, commenced a graduate recruitment programme for the first time this year.

A certain amount of recruitment activity over the coming year will also be related to the Government's decentralisation strategy, and as such will involve internal transfers for public sector staff looking to move to certain locations and those wishing to stay where they are.

Although the Government has decided to defer certain elements of the programme until 2011 - such as moving the Central Fisheries Board to Carrick on Shannon, Co Leitrim, and the National Roads Authority to Ballinasloe, Co Galway - some projects will go ahead.

These projects, such as the transfer of Bord Iascaigh Mhara, the fish marketing body, from Dublin to Clonakilty, and the relocation of Foras na Gaeilge from the capital to Gweedore, Co Donegal, will involve the movement of 3,474 jobs.

Public-sector employees are also likely to see pressure on their salaries over the coming year, with the battle over benchmarking likely to continue into 2009. Already, the rate of growth in weekly earnings in the public sector has started to slow. In the year to March 2008, average weekly earnings (excluding health) had increased by 3.6 per cent, but by June, the annual rate had slowed to 1.7 per cent, to €942.81 a week.