Sustaining Progress - Department of Taoiseach

Part 2 Sustaining Progress
108
20.23 Civil and public service employers will implement agreed codes of practice for the employment of
people with disabilities and promote employment opportunities for people with disabilities in line
with the Government’s 3% employment target.
Performance Verification
20.24 The Public Service Benchmarking Body (PSBB) recommended that implementation of three-quarters
of the pay increases recommended by it should be made conditional on delivery of real and verifiable
outputs in relation to modernisation and flexibility. In this context, NESC noted that “in a difficult
public finance situation, such a large step-adjustment in public pay warrants a step-increase in
flexibility and self-adjustment towards new systems of continuous improvement”.
20.25 The PSBB recommended that an appropriate validation process be established to ensure that
agreements would be implemented in accordance with their terms. The parties, having accepted
the Report of the PSBB, agree to the establishment of a mechanism to verify that all sectors,
organisations and grades in the public service deliver outputs in line with the provisions of this
Agreement. This mechanism will be established in accordance with Section 26.
Section 21: Modernisation and Flexibility
21.1 The parties to this Agreement will co-operate with flexibility and modernisation.
21.2 Previous national agreements have also provided for co-operation in the areas of modernisation and
flexibility. This Agreement clarifies and redefines the nature of the co-operation to be provided to
meet the current requirements. The pay increases provided for in this Agreement take account of the
flexibility and change covered in this framework. It is agreed by the parties that implementation of
such initiatives in the areas of flexibility and change will not give rise to claims for increased rewards
for staff in the form of promotions, regradings, allowances or other benefits.
21.3 The following paragraphs set out examples of specific areas of flexibility and change which are
covered by this Agreement. However, these examples are not exhaustive.
Principles of Organisational Change
21.4 Work should be organised in a manner that ensures the provision of high quality public services. This
may require change in existing structures and working methods to ensure that services are provided
in the most efficient and effective way. The parties to the Agreement accept the following principles:
■ Full co-operation with the introduction of new schemes and initiatives and changes to existing
schemes which are a routine feature of the work of public service organisations.
■ Work demands may lead to a need to change the way in which work is organised involving a
redistribution of tasks among staff and more flexibility in regard to reporting.
■ There will be situations where existing work procedures must be adapted to respond to work
requirements and traditional methods of performing particular tasks will have to be changed.