Provision to introduce compulsory redundancies for civil and public servants had to be an option, the former minister for finance, Brian Lenihan, told the Fianna Fáil/Green Party government in 2009.
In a memorandum for the cabinet on public service numbers, dated November 11th, 2009, Mr Lenihan sought approval for a three-year plan to reduce employment levels in the public service by 13,000.
The document, which is marked “secret”, said projected staff reductions, coupled with more flexible redeployment arrangements, would only go part of the way to achieving the large-scale cut in staffing levels envisaged.
“Voluntary redundancy may be an option in the first instance where there are surplus staff in an organisation and all possible re-deployment options have been explored.
“If surplus staff remain even after voluntary redundancy, compulsory redundancy must be an option.”
Surplus staff
The memorandum said that, against a background of some State programmes being shut down or scaled back due to the collapse in the public finances, there could be no question “of allowing surplus staff to remain under-utilised in certain pockets of the public service, when human resources are needed elsewhere”.
Mr Lenihan’s memorandum warned that the tabling of proposals for compulsory redundancy in the public service as an option “would be likely to provoke serious reaction”.
He maintained that even if industrial action was not sustained, it could seriously damage the prospects of the government being able to put in place arrangements for employment flexibility and staff redeployment.
Mr Lenihan also forecast that “a climate of sporadic local industrial action might be anticipated” in parts of the public service.
Cost of redundancies
The memorandum warned that the additional costs associated with redundancy for staff in the public service would reduce the level of payroll savings.
Ultimately, while voluntary redundancy programmes were put in place in parts of the public service, there were no forced lay-offs introduced for civil or public servants.
The avoidance of compulsory redundancies was one of the reasons behind public service unions agreeing to the Croke Park deal on public service pay and productivity in the summer of 2010.
In his November 2009 memorandum to cabinet, Mr Lenihan sought to reduce public service numbers from about 318,000 to 305,000 by the end of 2012.
He said that at this reduced level, staffing levels would still be higher than they had been for much of the previous decade and that service pressures “should be capable of being managed”.
Mr Lenihan said one positive issue was that significant changes to staffing numbers could provide a catalyst for meaningful organisational restructuring.
“Flatter management structures, and more challenging job profiles for managers and administrators, should lead to significant streamlining and increases in public service productivity; although it is uncertain what impact the industrial relations situation will have on these developments.”
