THE UNION representing junior "front line staff" in the civil service has rejected suggestions that they are overstaffed and overpaid. It said fewer staff were now, providing a better service than 10 years ago.
The general secretary of the Civil and Public Service Union, Mr John O'Dowd, said his union strongly supported public service reform and greater staff flexibility. However, the latest public service recruitment and promotion embargo was a crude instrument which went against the spirit of the Strategic Management Initiative and was causing grave demoralisation.
The committee chairman, Mr Jim Mitchell TD, had said almost every submission made during the two day discussion had called for a cut in public service staff and to pay those who remained better salaries.
Mr O'Dowd rejected the impression of a bloated and grossly overstaffed bureaucracy. There had been a significant drop in clerical staff in recent years, while both the quantity and quality of the service had increased. "We are being asked to deliver more service but we can't do it with fewer resources.
The latest embargo on recruitment and promotion was "a very strong attack on service delivery". Staff would soon begin to leave and either their work would either not be done or lower paid staff would be asked to do the work of higher officials. "Career expectations will be dramatically reduced."
Mr O'Dowd said the CPSU strongly favoured civil service reform and the Strategic Management Initiative but felt consultation with staff was not taking place.