Irish civil servants could face 'fines' if disciplined under a new law that is expected to come into force in late 2003 (currently the Civil Service Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2003). At present, the Civil Service Regulation Act 1956 establishes the terms and conditions of employment for all 30,000 civil servants. Under the 1956 Act, a civil servant found guilty of misconduct, irregularity, neglect or unsatisfactory behaviour can be downgraded or lose a pay increment.
Civil servants are to be subject to a monetary penalty as a disciplinary measure, once the Irish government passes the new Civil Service Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2003 into law at the end of 2003.
Irish civil servants could face 'fines' if disciplined under a new law that is expected to come into force in late 2003 (currently the Civil Service Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2003). At present, the Civil Service Regulation Act 1956 establishes the terms and conditions of employment for all 30,000 civil servants. Under the 1956 Act, a civil servant found guilty of misconduct, irregularity, neglect or unsatisfactory behaviour can be downgraded or lose a pay increment.
A monetary penalty is seen as a more flexible disciplinary tool for management and was one of the changes outlined by the Department of Finance to civil service trade unions at the end of May 2003. Cooperation with such legislative change comes under the list of so-called 'modernisation' issues agreed to by the public sector unions under Ireland's new national agreement, [Sustaining progress](http://www.ictu.ie/html/publications/other/Sustaining Progress.pdf) (IE0304201N) and in return for the implementation of the pay awards made in 2002 by the Public Service Benchmarking Body (PSBB) (IE0207203N).
Normally, the trade unions would have no input into legislative change, which is the preserve of the government, but Sustaining progress provides for 'consultations on the nature of the changes involved'. Under the Sustaining progress modernisation agenda, all parties have agreed 'to extend the scope of the Unfair Dismissals Acts to cover civil servants to widen the range of disciplinary sanctions, and to have a fuller range of sanctions available in serious cases of under-performance. The scope of the existing grievance procedure, including the issues than can be referred to a third party, will also be reviewed by the parties.'
The Civil Service Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2003 also envisages that the secretary-general of each government department will have the power to 'hire and fire' civil servants, up to and including the grade of assistant principal officer. The dismissal of those at the more senior principal officer grade will remain within the power of the relevant Minister.
The government is also set to replace the Civil Service Commissioners Act 1956, which establishes the Civil Service Commission as the sole body responsible for hiring civil servants, with the Public Service Management (Recruitment & Appointments) Bill, which it hopes to have ready by the end of summer 2003. The proposed change will allow each civil service department to recruit its own staff directly. Under the existing centralised recruitment system, recruitment is done through the Civil Service Commission. The unions, however, have expressed deep reservations regarding this particular change, with some claiming that it could introduce undue political interference in civil service appointments, something that the Commission has managed to avoid to date.
Eurofound doporučuje citovat tuto publikaci následujícím způsobem.
Eurofound (2003), Civil servants may face disciplinary 'fines', article.
