Impact biennial report web

Impact Biennial Report 2012–2014

Impact Biennial Report 2012–2014

Members of IMPACT’s Central Executive Committee and staff Front row (left to right): Eamonn Donnelly, Anna Leonard, Eugene Dunne, Jerry King, Maeve McCarthy-Barrett, Kevin O’Malley (president), Shay Cody (general secretary), Michael Scully, Margaret Coughlan, Tara Robertson, Paddy Quinn.

Middle row (left to right): Paddy Keating, Patricia Mellsop, Seamus Kavanagh, Louise O’Donnell, Teresa Griffin, Tommy Murtagh, Kevin Callinan, Peter Nolan, Michael Smyth, Jackie Lehane, Gina O’Brien, Shane Lambert.

Back row (left to right): Pat Fallon, Willie Cumming, Anthony Kelly, Evan Cullen, Tom Browne, Kieran Sheehan, Tony Martin, Michael Davis, Joe Sherlock.

Contents 1. Incomes

4. Civil service

Employment and the economy 7 Public service pay 8 Croke Park agreement 9 Haddington Road agreement 10 Public service pay rates 12 12 End of two-tier pay regime Public service pension levy 12 Increments 12 Allowances, overtime and premiums 13 Travel and subsistence 14 Private sector pay 14 Pay in the community and voluntary sector 15 Pensions 15

Redeployment 33 Performance management 33 Cross-stream promotion 33 Shared services 33 Grievance procedure 34 Equal opportunities 34 Service officer grades 34 Agriculture dispute 34

2. Working conditions Public service employment 17 Working time 17 Annual leave 17 Sick leave 18 Regularisation of acting positions 18 Outsourcing 18 Protection for whistleblowers 18 19 Health and safety Equal opportunities 19

3. Your union Membership, organising and recruitment 21 Codes of conduct and legal procedures 21 ICTU Commission 22 Membership support 22 Communications 22 Campaigns 24 Training 28 New benefits 29 Young workers 29 Retired members 29 Irish Congress of Trade Unions 29 Lockout centenary commemorations 29 Europe and the world 30 Developing world fund 30 Supporting the community 31 Finance and administration 31 SĂŠan Redmond 31 Staffing and remuneration 31

5. Health and welfare Health spending 37 Hospital clusters 37 Universal health insurance 37 Clerical and administrative staff 37 Child and Family Agency 38 38 Haddington Road agreement Redundancy and incentivised career breaks 38 38 Shared services 38 Regularisation of acting positions Sleepovers 39 40 Annual leave Promotion and recruitment panels 40 40 Performance management Community and voluntary sector 40 40 Work experience schemes

6. Education Organisation 43 Policy initiatives 43 Croke Park and Haddington Road agreements 43 Education and training boards 43 Institutes of technology 44 National Education Welfare Board 44 School completion programme 44 School secretaries and caretakers 44 SOLAS 44 44 Special needs assistants

7. Local government and municipal employees Organisation 47 Local government reform 47 Local Government Act 2013 47 Haddington Road agreement 47 Local Authority National Council 47 Partnership 47

Working hours 47 Flexitime 48 Irish Water 48 Long-term acting 48 Shared services 49 Job descriptions 49 Libraries 49 Housing 49 Municipal employees 49 Sick leave 49 Overtime payments 49 Fortnightly pay 49 Gateway 50 Grievance procedures 50 Parks 50 Litter wardens 50 Waste management 50 Education 50 Dublin city homeless service 50 Fire fighters 50 Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County 50 Council

8. Services and enterprises Sale of state assets 53 Aviation pensions 53 Aviation policy 54 Cabin crew 54 Pay in the commercial sector 54 Communications 54 Community employment schemes 54 Road Safety Authority 54 Non-commercial semi-state agencies 54

9. Appendices Appendix one: Mileage and subsistence 57 Appendix two: Branch secretaries 59 Appendix three: Central Executive Committee 2012-2014 62 Appendix four: Divisional executive committees 63 Appendix five: IMPACT staffing and remuneration 64 Appendix six: ICTU committees and affiliations 66 Appendix seven: Summary of accounts 67

Section 1 Incomes

Employment and the economy

the institute identifies scope for progressive tax changes to ensure that the very highest income households bear the biggest tax increases. The institute estimates that tax breaks and allowances allow the highest earning households to pay an average of just 27% of their income in tax. It estimates that a 1.5% increase in this could raise an additional €400 million in 2014 and €200 million in 2015 without changing tax rates or bands. This could be done by:

IMPACT has continued to support and participate in the Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ (ICTU) campaign for economic policies that can deliver sustainable growth and employment, instead of the austerity policies imposed by the troika and followed by successive governments since 2008.

The union voice on economic matters was hugely strengthened by the establishment of the trade union-backed Nevin Economic Research Institute (NERI) in early 2012. IMPACT was among the small number of unions that pioneered the idea of establishing an alternative but independent economic think-tank and the union continues to give significant funding to the institute. In its first two years NERI has established a consistent reputation and media profile, based on a strong body of credible research.

•• Increasing the minimum effective tax rates currently allowed under the ‘high earners restriction’ •• Increasing the 30% target effective tax rate for higher earners, and •• Reforming the structure and availability of tax breaks, which mostly go to high earners.

NERI says its alternative budgetary approach could save 75,000 jobs over two years, and would reduce the deficit by boosting tax revenues and reducing social welfare and related costs. In advance of the October 2013 budget announcement, the union outlined NERI’s alternative approach which called for:

Early in 2013, a major research paper from NERI set out the detailed economic case for reducing the amount of bank debt that Ireland is expected to pay. The think tank also called for a lengthening of the payment period and a reduction in interest charges on borrowing to repay the debt. The report was published as more than 110,000 people took part in ICTU-organised protests against the country’s continuing bank debt burden. IMPACT was closely involved in the organisation of the events and its members and branches joined the demonstrations in large numbers in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Sligo.

Participants heard how 1.8 million working people in Ireland were carrying a bank debt burden of €64 billion. Ireland has borne over 42% of the cost of the European bank debt crisis, with every Irish citizen paying €9,000 on average so far. The average per capita cost across 27 member states is less than €200. Rallies across the country also heard personal testimonies from people affected by the crisis, including IMPACT members.

•• The full use of the proceeds of the ‘promissory note’ deal to reduce spending cuts and tax increases by €1 billion •• An investment stimulus of €4.5 billion (NERI has outlined how this could be funded without increasing exchequer spending) •• Increases in capital taxes and income taxes for the highest earning 10% of households and •• No further cuts in day-to-day public spending beyond those agreed under the Haddington Road deal.

In his budget statement, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform acknowledged that 2014 payroll savings delivered by the Haddington Road agreement would be worth around €500 million, or 20% of the annual budgetary adjustment.

IMPACT criticised the budget for taking yet more cash out of the economy instead of introducing a serious stimulus, which could boost incomes and exchequer funds by creating jobs and building consumer confidence. The union said limited stimulus and employment measures outlined in the budget were insufficient to deal with the unemployment crisis. But it said it was positive to see ministers acknowledge public servants’

NERI’s research later demonstrated how Ireland could meet its troika-imposed deficit targets through alternative economic policies, which would require no further public spending cuts and no tax increases for 90% of households.

It says this would require small increases in effective tax rates for the top 10% of households by earnings – those that collectively earn over €109,000 a year including employers’ PRSI and pension contributions. Even within this group,

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huge contribution to Ireland’s deficit reduction, and it welcomed signals that public service staffing restrictions would be eased slightly with the promise of some limited extra recruitment in 2014. The new recruitment was earmarked for health and social care, primary and mental health services, special needs provision and other areas.

Public service pay The union circulated a detailed working paper on pay and incomes to all IMPACT branches in early 2014 and a more detailed paper is being prepared for the 2014 biennial delegate conference. These papers also address the issue of public-private sector pay comparisons. Official data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows that public sector average hourly earnings fell by 5.4% between 2008 and 2011. Weekly public service earnings decreased at nearly the same rate (5.1%), or just under €50 a week. These figures do not include the so-called ‘pension levy,’ which reduced earnings by a further 7% on average, or the impact of new taxes and charges.

Separate figures from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform show that the cost of public service pay has fallen from €17.5 billion in 2009 to €14.1 billion in 2013.

At an international level, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) called for investment of between €140 billion and €280 billion to fund a European jobs and recovery programme. Speaking in Dublin in 2013, ETUC general secretary Bernadette Ségol said austerity policies had failed and investment of between 1-2% of EU-wide GDP was needed to create jobs and relaunch the European economy. IMPACT is affiliated to the ETUC through the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

Thousands of IMPACT members joined ICTU demonstrations against bank debt in February 2013.

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An October 2012 Central Statistics Office (CSO) analysis of public and private sector earnings in Ireland showed that, regardless of how it is measured, any pay premium for public sector workers fell significantly between 2007 and 2010.

The figures take account of the January 2010 public service pay cuts, but not the additional cuts to new entrants’ pay introduced in 2011 or the July 2013 pay reductions for public servants who earn over €65,000. Because they are based on gross earnings, the figures overestimate the pay gap because they do not take account of the socalled ‘pension levy.’ Importantly, the CSO study acknowledged that economists disagree on how to measure differences across the two sectors.

Unlike earlier reports by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), the CSO published results from a variety of models and tests. Its report showed a very broad range of estimates, all of which demonstrate a measurable reduction in the pay gap regardless of the methodology used.

reduces Irish public servants’ pay by an average of 7%. In other words, these figures showed that the Irish public service pay bill is roughly in line with comparable EU countries as a percentage of GDP even before you deduct the so-called ‘pension levy. The OECD’s Government at a Glance, 2011, which compares international public sector labour costs, found that the cost of employing Irish public servants is about average.

Depending on how the gap is measured, the report found that the pre-pension levy public service pay premium ranged from 6.1% to 18.9%, but that the gap was significantly different for men and women. The pre-pension levy pay premium for men ranged from 2.3% and 16%, depending on how the gap is measured. The pay premium was wider for women at between 9.2% and 21.5%. Factoring in an average ‘pension levy’ of 7%, the net public service premium was, therefore, minus (-) 0.9% to plus (+) 11.9% overall. For men, it was minus (-) 4.7% to plus (+) 9%. For women it ranged from plus (+) 2.2% to plus (+) 14.5%.

Croke Park agreement

Research conducted for IMPACT and circulated to branches in August 2012, also showed that certain large groups of Irish public servants – including clerical officers and primary teachers – are paid less than their German counterparts at every stage of their careers, even though the cost of living was 17% higher here at the time the research was conducted. The study compared the pay of certain public service grades in Ireland and Germany prior to an agreement to increase German public service wages by over 6%.

The third and final report of the Croke Park national implementation body, which was published in July 2013, reported that public servants had delivered sustainable annual savings of €1.8bn since the agreement was signed in 2010. The report confirmed that payroll savings of over €160 million were achieved in the nine months up to the end of December 2012, which equates to annual savings of almost €215 million. Additional non-pay savings of almost €170 million were reported in the same period, worth over €235 million on an annual basis. IMPACT said the savings once again demonstrated how public servants have delivered reforms, absorbed additional work and reduced costs under the agreement, which followed substantial cuts in their pay. The union said the results refuted those who claim that public servants are ‘insulated’ from the effects of the recession.

The study produced aggregate figures and did not compare the pay of specific jobs with similar skills and education requirements, experience or levels of responsibility. The CSO results showed that, on average, public service workers have higher educational attainment, longer service, are older, and are more likely to be in professional jobs than their counterparts in the private sector. These remain the most significant factors in explaining any premium in public sector pay.

A year earlier, the implementation body’s second annual report identified over €890 million in annualised payroll and non-pay savings delivered across the public service in the second year of the deal. The huge verified savings, together with a sustained public relations and communications effort from IMPACT in 2011-2012, defused sustained media and political criticism of the agreement, which at one stage threatened

In September 2012, the IMF reported that Irish public service pay was 11.2% of GDP compared to an average of 11.1% for OECD countries who are members of the EU. These figures did not take account of the so-called ‘pension levy’ which

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In late February, the union’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) overwhelmingly recommended acceptance of the proposals. This decision was based on the assessment that Croke Park protections were unlikely to prevail in the absence of a new agreement and that more draconian measures were likely to be imposed in the absence of a deal. IMPACT believed that the Government would move to cut pay and alter working conditions if no new deal was put in place and that many of the Croke Park protections, including the bar on compulsory redundancies, would be lost in the absence of a revised agreement.

to undermine political support for a deal that guaranteed no compulsory redundancies, maintained pay rates and structures, limited changes to working conditions, and gave important safeguards over outsourcing and other matters.

Haddington Road agreement In November 2012, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform invited unions to new negotiations, saying that the Government would extend the Croke Park agreement into 2016 if it could achieve more savings in 2013 and 2014 than envisaged in the original deal. Before entering talks, IMPACT sought economic advice, which confirmed that the biggest single reduction in the Government deficit was planned for 2014 – the year the agreement was originally due to expire. In these circumstances, the union decided it was better to try to seek an extension of the protections and, as far as possible, shape Government and management proposals for an extra €1 billion in cost-saving measures. IMPACT’s objective going into the talks was to maintain the provision that there could be no compulsory redundancies in the public service, and to protect pay, pensions and working conditions as far as possible within the budgetary plans outlined by management. But the union warned from the outset that it would be a difficult negotiation.

The union’s assessment was that management’s original agenda would come back into play, and that unions would have little or no influence on how savings were achieved. This meant that the alternative to the proposed agreement was far less certain and almost certainly worse.

An information campaign got underway and arrangements for a national ballot of IMPACT members commenced at the end of March.

Meanwhile An Taoiseach confirmed to Dáil Eireann that legislation would be prepared to impose €1 billion of additional savings in the public service pay and pensions bill, including €300 million of savings in 2013, if a new agreement was not endorsed. A number of Government ministers and public sector management subsequently said that if there was no new agreement change would be imposed to get additional savings of €1 billion.

The talks began in earnest in January 2013 when IMPACT rejected management’s opening positions, which included the introduction of compulsory redundancies, five extra working hours each week, a three-year increment freeze for all, the introduction of flat-rate overtime, severely limited access to flexitime, permanent pay reductions for many, and an increase in redeployment limits from 45 to 100 kilometres.

The negotiations were brokered by the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) and concluded at the end of February 2013. By this time, IMPACT and other unions had reduced the severity of management proposals in every important respect and had also made important gains in areas like the regularisation of acting positions, measures to end the two-tier pay system introduced in 2011, strengthened protections on outsourcing, and a small but significant reduction in the so-called ‘pension levy.’

The IMPACT ballot closed in April and members voted to accept the proposals by a margin of 56% to 44% on a 65% turnout – a much tighter margin than the 77% of IMPACT members who supported the original Croke Park agreement in 2010.

After a majority of public service unions subsequently rejected the package, IMPACT prepared a coordinated response, including a commitment to industrial action if necessary, in case public service management imposed changes to pay and working conditions that went beyond the measures accepted by a majority of the union’s members. The union also said: 1 It would be unacceptable if the package was changed in ways that worsened the situation for IMPACT members in order to accommodate others

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2 If any concessions were made to other unions, they must also go to IMPACT members in the same or related grades

•• The retention of double-time premium payments for IMPACT staff rostered to work on Sundays

3 If management was prepared to discuss possible concessions with other unions, IMPACT would also have the opportunity to seek concessions for its members

•• Regularisation of acting positions in health and agreement to regularise acting positions in the context of local authority ‘workforce planning’ •• A long-sought panel arrangement for the redeployment of special needs assistants.

4 IMPACT members would seek a collective agreement that ensured its members were exempt if the Government introduced legislation to impose permanent pay cuts, indefinite incremental freezes for all, or other measures that are were not included in the package accepted by a majority of IMPACT members.

IMPACT negotiators also won commitments on leave arrangements in voluntary hospitals, as well as confirmation that ‘twilight’ payments would still apply to staff who work between 8pm and midnight. It was confirmed that the CORU fee for social care and health professional registration would be set at €100, with restoration for those who have already paid more. And there were new protections for staff on low levels of annual leave.

IMPACT was the first union to meet LRC officials when they were asked to explore the scope for a negotiated solution. IMPACT received assurances on all four measures early in the discussions that followed. The union used the talks, which subsequently led to the Haddington Road agreement (HRA) to address concerns voiced by IMPACT members during our ballot, regardless of whether they had voted yes or no. These issues included working hours, flexitime and worksharing, pay restoration for those whose pay would be cut, the potential effects on pensions for these members, and a number of other issues.

On 30th May, IMPACT’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) accepted the Haddington Road agreement and protected its members from the more draconian measures in the FEMPI Bill by formally registering the agreement with the LRC. The CEC decided a further ballot of members was unnecessary because: •• A national ballot of IMPACT members had accepted the original package •• None of the Haddington Road agreement (HRA) measures eroded any of the terms of the original package

Following detailed negotiations with individual unions and groups of unions, the LRC published its proposals for a Haddington Road agreement in late May – the same time that the Government published the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) Bill, 2013, which implemented aspects of the agreement and paved the way for the imposition of worse measures for public servants whose unions rejected the proposed deal. Among other things, revisions to the original LRC package included breakthroughs for IMPACT members including:

•• Any improvements in the HRA package agreed for members of other unions were also available to IMPACT members in the same or related grades •• The HRA package also included improvements specific to IMPACT grades •• The publication of the FEMPI Bill made it certain that there was no better alternative available to IMPACT members.

Virtually all public service unions, including those most vocally opposed to a deal, had accepted the HRA by the end of the summer. The last union accepted the agreement at the end of 2013.

•• Agreement that no IMPACT member, up to and including grade VIIs, will work more than two and a quarter additional working hours per week •• Ring-fenced flexitime and work-sharing arrangements •• A quicker and clearer return to pre-reduction pay rates for staff earning between €65,000 and €110,000

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Public service pay rates

in post, reintroducing pay equity for young workers and other new entrants to the public service. The Haddington Road agreement conceded this longstanding IMPACT demand and its implementation was negotiated in the second half of 2013 after a majority of unions finally accepted the deal.

The Haddington Road agreement continues to protect the core pay rates of 87% of public servants, although some staff will see temporary delays in the payment of increments or changes to allowances and overtime arrangements. The agreement also means temporary pay reductions for those who earn over €65,000 a year who make up 13% of total public service employment.

With effect from 1st July 2013:

Public service pension levy The so-called ‘pension levy’ was slightly reduced for all public servants on 1st January 2014.

The change, which is worth €125 a year, was implemented by exempting more earnings from the levy after IMPACT and other unions successfully sought an adjustment in the Haddington Road negotiations in 2013. This very modest improvement is significant because it represents the first positive movement in public service incomes since 2008.

•• Public servants paid less than €65,000 saw no change in their pay rates •• Public servants who earn between €65,000 and €80,000 a year had their pay cut by 5.5% •• Earnings between €80,000 and €150,000 were reduced by 8% •• Earnings between €150,000 and €185,000 were reduced by 9% and

Increments

•• Earnings over €185,000 were reduced by 10%.

The payment of increments continues to attract sustained criticism from commentators and politicians and IMPACT had consistently defended the incremental pay-scale system in the media and elsewhere. The union has argued that increments are an integral part of the public service pay system and that a general freeze in increments would hit younger and lower-paid workers hardest.

IMPACT also pointed out that the annual cost of increments has fallen significantly because of reductions in the numbers of public servants and recruitment restrictions.

IMPACT and other unions ensured that many of those who earn above €65,000 a year will be returned to their June 2013 pay rates over time.

Those on salaries between €65,000 and the maximum of the civil service principal (higher) will have their pay restored in two equal phases; one on 1st April 2017 and the second nine months later.

Salaries above this range have been permanently reduced.

End of two-tier pay regime IMPACT and other union achieved the end of the two-tier public service pay system, which was introduced when lower pay scales for new entrants were introduced at the beginning of 2011. New unified pay scales, effective from November 2013, will see post-2011 entrants ascend to pre-2011 scale points after two years, or less in some cases.

As a result, most staff recruited after January 2011 will be earning more than their current scale allows once they reach their third scale point, while many lower paid grades – including clerical officers and service officers – will see some benefit after just one year.

Misinformed criticism of increments fuelled fears that management would try to freeze or abolish them. At the outset of the Haddington Road negotiations, management sought to freeze all increments until the end of 2016, but unions negotiated a better outcome. In summary: •• Public servants who earn less than €35,000 a year receive their next increment when it falls due and then wait 15 months (rather than 12) before any following increment is paid •• Public servants who earn between €35,000 and €65,000 receive their next increment when it falls due, then wait 15 months (rather than 12) before any following increment is paid, and then 15 months (rather than 12) before the following increment is paid

The breakthrough means all staff in any given grade will be on common pre-2011 pay scales, albeit with up to two additional post-2011 points added at the bottom of the scales. The changes will apply to all staff who joined the civil and public service after January 2011, including those already 12

•• Public servants who earn between €35,000 and €65,000 a year, and who are now at the top of their scale, forfeit six days leave, or the cash equivalent on a once-off basis

allowances paid to IMPACT members under the Haddington Road agreement, which commits unions and management to continue to cooperate with the Government’s allowances review.

•• Public servants who earn between €35,000 and €65,000, and reach the top of the scale following a second increment paid during the lifetime of the agreement, incur a once-off loss of three days leave or the cash equivalent

At the outset of the Haddington Road talks, management wanted all overtime to be worked at the standard hourly pay rate. Unions negotiated a better outcome, which is:

•• Those on salaries between €65,000 and the maximum of the civil service principal (higher) scale receive their next increment when it falls due, then wait 18 months (rather than 12) before any following increment is paid, and then 18 months (rather than 12) before the next increment is paid

•• Public servants who earn less than €35,000 a year are paid overtime at 1.5 times the minimum point of their scale. (A small number of staff in this category, who would be disproportionately hit by this formula, are paid overtime at time-and-a-quarter of their individual scale point)

•• Incremental progression is suspended for three years for those on salaries scales starting over €100,000.

•• Public servants who earn more than €35,000 are paid overtime at 1.25 times the actual point of their scale, subject to any ceilings in place

Allowances, overtime and premiums

•• If they work overtime, staff who currently work 39 hours a week had to work one unpaid hour a week until 31st March 2014

In October 2012, departments and offices were instructed to open talks with unions about the abolition of some allowances currently paid to existing public servants. The 88 named allowances were drawn from a list of over 100 that were abolished for new entrants when the Government announced the outcome of its review of allowances in September 2012. There was no significant change to the situation regarding

•• Double time continues to be paid for Saturday afternoon and Sundays and public holidays.

There were no changes to premium payments except that, where they existed, twilight payments for working between 6-8pm were abolished.

IMPACT won a commitment that hours previously paid at time-plus-one-sixth after 8pm would continue to be paid at this rate.

Jackie Brown, Dublin Hospitals Branch.

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Travel and subsistence

Private sector pay

Civil service general council reports 1504 and 1505 set out agreed travel and subsistence rates for the civil service, which are generally applied across the public service. In 2009, the rates were reduced by 25% through legislation.

No formal review of the rates has taken place since June 2008 when unions lodged a claim to the civil service conciliation and arbitration scheme for the implementation of the agreed rates. The claim was processed as far as the arbitration stage. However, the unions judged that the arbitrator was unlikely to find in their favour in the current climate, particularly as the Government had imposed the cuts through legislation. Therefore, the unions proposed a joint informal review of travel and subsistence rates in accordance with the normal criteria, which take account of motoring costs, hotel costs and foreign travel. The first informal review concluded that there should be no increase in the travel and subsistence rates. The Haddington Road agreement required cooperation with a review of travel and subsistence arrangements and this is currently underway. IMPACT and other unions are resisting management proposals for certain specific reductions in some travel and subsistence payments.

Official data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows that hourly earnings in the private and commercial sector were stagnant between 2008 and 2011 while weekly earnings fell by €21.63 (or 3.4%). The difference in weekly and hourly earnings reflects decreases in private sector working hours, which have hit many family incomes. From 2013, there were signs of modest but significant positive pay movement in the sector. A survey of more than 70 pay deals negotiated in the private sector found that over 20,000 workers have benefitted from pay deals of up to 2%, with some as high as 3%, over a single year. The survey, by the respected journal Industrial Relations News, did not include multi-year agreements struck before January 2013 which, it said, cover “many thousands” more, mostly in the manufacturing sector. Other agreements have included pay pauses and significant productivity concessions. IMPACT has been negotiating modest pay deals in those commercial and private companies that are able to pay. Again, these have generally involved significant productivity measures or changes to pay structures.

Marie Anne Gardiner and Anna Farrell from the Fáilte Ireland Branch attended the 2013 Services and Enterprises conference.

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Pay in the community and voluntary sector

An updated actuarial valuation of the accrued liability of public service pensions was carried out by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The total accrued liability was estimated at €98 billion compared to €116 billion in 2009.

The liability fell by €18 billion (16%) between 2009 and 2012 mainly because of pay and pension cuts and the freeze in pay and pension rates. It was estimated that, without these factors, the accrued liability would have risen to over €130 billion.

Most organisations in the community and voluntary sector have continued to experience significant funding cuts over the last two years and this has impacted on jobs, services and pay.

A report by independent researcher Brian Harvey, which was commissioned by the ICTU Community Sector Committee with support from IMPACT and Siptu, found that the sector had suffered a 35% contraction, which resulted in an estimated 11,000 job losses by the end of 2013. The report estimated that a further 5,500 jobs will go from the sector by the end of 2015. An earlier Harvey report, commissioned and published by IMPACT’s Boards and Voluntary Agencies branch in 2010, estimated a loss of 5,000 jobs at the end of that year, which was 10% of the sector’s workforce.

Harvey found that most organisations tried to absorb cuts, with staff suffering reduced working hours or pay cuts similar to the 2009 public service reductions. His reports criticised the arbitrary nature of funding cuts and said the level of contraction went beyond what has happened elsewhere in Europe.

The €98 billion figure represents the present value of all expected future superannuation payments to current staff and their spouses in respect of service to December 2012, plus the liability for all future payments to current and preserved pensioners and their spouses. The pension payments will be spread over the next 70 years or so. Both the €98 billion and the earlier €116 billion estimates assume that future pension increases will be in line with pay. If CPI indexation is used instead, the accrued liabilities are further reduced to €82 billion. Under EU regulations the CSO will be required to compile three-yearly estimates of the liabilities of public service schemes from 2017.

IMPACT and the ICTU continued to criticise the increase in the state pension age, which has risen from 65 to 66. Further increases, to 67 and 68, are due in 2021 and 2028 respectively. This has a very severe effect on those who rely on Department of Social Protection pensions. It also has serious implications for individual contracts of employment, most of which provide for retirement when the state pension becomes available.

IMPACT and ICTU have also highlighted the fact that changes in contribution conditions have a disproportionate effect on women workers.

Pensions The value of defined benefit and defined contribution pension schemes continues to be under pressure across the economy. Poor investment performance, industry charges, expensive annuities and increased life expectancy are combining to erode the value of funded pension schemes, and this has affected many IMPACT members in such schemes. The most serious problems are in the Irish Aviation Superannuation Scheme, which covers members in Aer Lingus and the airport authorities. Public service pension arrangements continue to attract fierce and regular criticism in the media and from business organisations and some politicians.

IMPACT continues to defend public service pensions pointing out that 78% of civil service pensioners receive annual pensions of €30,000 or less. Most of these pensioners are not entitled to receive a social welfare pension and all public servants make substantial contributions towards the cost of their pensions, the value of which was reduced by an average of 4% in 2011.

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Section 2 Working conditions

Public service employment

than 32 hours and 45 minutes will eventually see their hours increase to 35 hours a week. Hours for job-sharers and part-time staff were increased on a pro-rata basis.

The number of public servants has fallen by over 30,000 since 2008. This 10% staffing reduction has occurred as demand for public services has increased in virtually every area. The population rose by 350,000 between 2006 and 2011; there are 630,000 more medical card holders than in 2007; the school population has increased by 49,000; the number of pensioners has risen by 18%; and there are 260,000 (18%) more people in receipt of social protection benefits. These trends have increased workloads and productivity across the public service.

Under the agreement, staff who worked more than 35 hours a week prior to July 2013 saw their weekly working hours increase to 39. However, in most cases this meant an increase of just 1.5 hours because most staff in this category previously worked 37.5 hours. Staff who already worked 39 hours a week prior to July 2013 saw no change in their working hours.

On IMPACT’s insistence, the agreement gave staff the option of remaining on their pre-July 2013 hours with a pro-rata pay adjustment to reflect the value of the extra working time. IMPACT told public service management it would not cooperate with the implementation of new working time arrangements if local or sectoral management refused to honour this commitment. This followed an HSE instruction to managers, which suggested they could refuse staff who sought a pay adjustment rather than increased hours. The union has also rejected suggestions of a June 2014 timelimit on such arrangements.

Public service management and unions reached agreement on voluntary redundancy terms in July 2012. However, there is no general scheme and the arrangements have only been applied in limited circumstances where specific posts, functions, locations or categories of staff were deemed redundant and where the Croke Park redeployment option was impractical or insufficient. Few public service departments or agencies have sought Department of Public Expenditure and Reform permission to offer the voluntary redundancy terms.

In 2013, IMPACT welcomed the Budget 2014 announcement that a “reform dividend,” in the form of limited public service recruitment, was planned. The union said it would seek consultation with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, and other Government departments, to highlight areas where new recruitment was needed and said enhanced staffing was urgently needed in the health and social care professions, primary and mental health services, local authorities, special needs provision and a number of other areas.

The union also ensured that staff at the level of grade VII and below retained their flexitime arrangements on a personal to holder basis.

However, it is no longer available to new and promoted staff at grade VIII level and above. Since 1st July 2014, the maximum amount of flexi-leave allowed in any flexi-period is one day, although unions ensured that there was no change to the amount of hours that can be carried over from one flexi-period to another.

Working time

Standardised annual leave arrangements introduced under the Croke Park agreement protected the great majority of staff from cuts in annual leave. No further changes were conceded in the negotiations that led to the Haddington Road agreement.

Annual leave

Under the Haddington Road agreement, working time increased for most public servants in 2013.

However, the increased hours were well below management’s original proposal of five extra hours a week for all staff, regardless of their previous working hours. The agreement introduced a standard full-time working week of 37 hours for staff who previously worked 35 hours or less.

However, the union negotiated a safeguard which capped additional working time at two hours and 15 minutes for most existing staff on grade VII or below, although staff who previously worked less 17

Sick leave

•• Schemes for occupational illnesses or injuries were unchanged

New sick leave arrangements, which came into force for most public servants in March 2014, ensured that staff who suffer long-term critical illness or serious physical injury retain the ability to take six months paid sick leave, followed by six months on half pay, over a four-year period.

IMPACT and other unions successfully argued against management proposals to cut this to six months full pay followed by three months half pay.

Unions also successfully resisted management plans to limit the arrangement to a single critical illness or serious injury in a public servant’s career. But the new arrangements, which will be introduced in schools and colleges in September 2014, halved paid sick leave limits for non-critical illnesses to three months on full pay, followed by three months on half pay, in any four-year period.

•• Existing arrangements, which help minimise the amount of past sick leave that’s taken into account when calculating certified sick leave eligibility, were retained •• Additional protections were secured for staff with pregnancy-related conditions, including assisted pregnancy •• Additional protections were secured for staff with disability-related conditions •• Better protections were secured for staff with very long-term illnesses who have a realistic prospect of returning to work •• The proposed implementation date was pushed back by almost two years.

Regularisation of acting positions

In 2013, self-certified sick leave was reduced to a maximum of seven days in any 24-month period, while new time limits on the so-called ‘pension rate’ – a small pension-based income for those whose paid sick leave is exhausted – mean that public servants can now receive this sick leave payment for more than two years in some circumstances.

During the negotiations that led to the Haddington Road agreement, IMPACT received assurances on the regularisation of acting positions in health and local authorites and the union has been in sectoral dicussions about the implementation of this since.

Early in 2014, the Labour Court said it would not award backdated incremental credit in cases where long-term acting positions are regularised because the Haddington Road letters said that regularisation should be done on a cost-neutral basis.

The changes were rooted in a commitment in the original Croke Park agreement, although unions did not accept the need to change the sick leave arrangements. Unions argued that most sick leave was certified as necessary by a doctor, most staff took very little uncertified leave, and management already had the tools to address any mismanagement or abuse of the system.

Nevertheless, IMPACT and other unions won major protections for staff in subsequent talks and in two Labour Court recommendations on the issue. These include:

Outsourcing The Haddington Road agreement reaffirmed Croke Park protections over outsourcing and included measures to review compliance with legal workplace rights, including wage-setting mechanisms, in public service tenders. The agreement provides for a joint review of the Croke Park outsourcing provisions and says that the Labour Relations Commission will make proposals if consensus cannot be reached in this process.

•• Original management proposals to cut leave in critical illness cases were successfully resisted •• Unions ensured that a broad definition of critical illness was adopted

Protection for whistleblowers IMPACT has been at the forefront of a union campaign to strengthen protections for workplace whistleblowers and national secretary Matt Staunton is part of the ICTU team working to strengthen the legislation. As a direct result of that campaign, the Government amended its Protected Disclosures Bill in early 2014, adding a new clause that will prevent employers sacking staff who reveal fraudulent or other unlawful behaviour. This

•• Management plans to limit the arrangement to a single critical illness or serious injury in a public servant’s career were scotched •• Unions ensured that managers retain limited discretion to extend paid sick leave arrangements for non-critical illnesses

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Equal opportunities

was a central plank of trade union submissions on the Bill and it means that, once it becomes law, the bill will prevent employers from dismissing an employee who blows the whistle in accordance with the law. ICTU is now pressing for a code of practice to set out clear procedures for making protected disclosures.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions criticised Government plans to allow mothers to allocate two weeks of their maternity leave to the father of their child. ICTU says there should be an additional two weeks leave for fathers instead, with no change to mothers’ existing 26-week entitlement.

ICTU also says the proposals would force parents to take parental leave at different times, which would reduce the value of parental leave. Unions are also concerned that the proposal could lead to employers putting pressure on new mothers to take less maternity leave. The Government has said it will consult on the proposals.

Health and safety IMPACT has raised concerns about reductions in Health and Safety Authority (HSA) inspection staff and the resulting decrease in the number of inspections carried out by the authority.

These warnings have been echoed by others, including the president of the National Irish Safety Organisation Pauric Corrigan and HSA chairman Michael Horgan who warned in 2013 that the continuing loss of staff at the authority will lead to a reduction in standards and an increase in workplace injuries and costs. Mr Horgan told an Oireachtas committee that his agency was struggling to maintain its support to high-tech industries that earn more than €50 billion in exports. He said production could be moved to other countries as a direct result. The HSA plans to carry out 11,520 inspections in 2014, compared to over 16,000 five years ago. The reduction reflects a 27% cut in the HSA’s budget over the same period.

International trade union bodies welcomed a European Parliament vote calling on the EU to draw up a ‘roadmap’ to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. The resolution, adopted in February 2014, calls on the European Commission and member states to establish similar protections to those in place for gender, disability and ethnic discrimination. The international trade union federation Public Services International (PSI) applauded the move and called on its affiliates, which include IMPACT, to actively oppose homophobia and organise to defend the rights of LGBT workers.

IMPACT supported the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland’s campaign for stronger rights for migrant workers and justice for the 30,000 undocumented migrants, including children and families, now living in Ireland.

School secretary Marion Jackson spoke at the 2014 ICTU women’s conference.

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Section 3 Your union

Over 60 (3%)

Membership, organising and recruitment Over 2,740 new membership applications were approved in 2013. While staffing reductions in the public, private, commercial and voluntary sectors continued to have an effect on IMPACT membership levels and potential, sustained recruitment efforts in certain areas contributed to a modest increase in membership in 2013. This was the first increase in membership since 2009.

IMPACT had 59,100 members at the end of 2013, an increase of 2.2% over 2012. Some 73% of IMPACT members are women and this percentage is increasing because most new members – 83% in 2013 – are women. The age profile of 2013 joiners is set out in the pie chart.

51-60 (17%)

Under 30 (20%)

41-50 (28%) 31-40 (32%)

Age profile of new IMPACT members in 2013.

In recent years, the union has taken steps to manage expenditure while maintaining and expanding services to members. The union has also developed a strategic focus on recruitment and organising – including building branch capacity and identifying and developing leaders – and has driven and supported efforts for reforms and more effectiveness within the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

in the seven branches to which organisers were allocated. This compared to a small membership decline across the rest of the union. There was also a considerable strengthening of representative structures in the branches concerned.

Four areas were identified for specific recruitment initiatives in 2011. Since then, the union has seen steady membership growth among special needs assistants after substantial investment in the area.

Membership among staff in the community and voluntary sector has held up, despite significant downsizing in the sector. Planned recruitment among health and social care professionals has been relatively slow, despite the union’s success in winning a substantial reduction in proposed statutory registration fees. This is largely due to the slow roll-out of new fitness to practice arrangements, which meant a delay in activating the significant benefit of IMPACT’s new representation and legal defence scheme. Despite some growth, recruitment of retired members has been lower than expected despite the focus on pension issues in the public and private sectors.

IMPACT membership 2008 63,200 2009 68,400 2010 64,100 2011 61,400 2012 57,800 2013 59,100 In November 2013, IMPACT’s Central Executive adopted an organising strategy to guide the union’s response to organising challenges. An implementation programme was endorsed by the executive in January 2014 and a consultative phase was then completed. Among other things, the union’s organising strategy sets out the core commitments that define the union (see box on page 22). The union reintroduced the grade of organiser in 2012. Organisers were appointed to work with the Boards and Voluntary Agencies branch and the Dublin Care Services branch.

This was quickly followed by the appointments of four more organisers to work with branches representing members in schools. A review of the initiative after the first year showed that there had been an 8% increase in membership

Codes of conduct and legal procedures In February 2014 the union’s Central Executive adopted a code of conduct for members elected to the union’s Central Executive. A similar code is to be developed for union staff. In September 2013, the executive also adopted new procedures for branches regarding approval for taking legal cases. This was subsequently communicated to all branches.

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IMPACT’s core commitments

ICTU Commission The 2013 ICTU biennial delegate conference endorsed Future Positive, the second report of the ICTU Trade Union Commission, which was set up in 2011 to review trade union organisation in Ireland. IMPACT has supported the report’s recommendations of a number of measures to strengthen trade unions and make them more effective, including more collaboration and pooling of resources at national and sectoral level. Future Positive also explored the potential of ultimately reorganising Congress into a more federal structure. ICTU general secretary David Begg attended a meeting of the IMPACT Central Executive to outline the background to, and recommendations of, the Commission. In 2012, the executives of IMPACT and the PSEU held a joint seminar and in December 2013 the PSEU executive invited IMPACT, CPSU and AHCPS to enter exploratory talks in the context of the Commission. All four unions accepted the invitation. The IMPACT Consultative Council has been regularly briefed on the Commission’s work.

1 IMPACT is a democratic, representative organisation that uses all feasible methods to remain relevant to, and representative of, its members and potential members, and which defends its members and improves their workplace experience.

2 IMPACT encourages its members to play a part in the union, values its activists and demonstrates this by developing and supporting them through excellent training, communications, mentoring, advice, information provision, and other supports.

3 IMPACT understands and communicates that its effectiveness and strength is based on collective action and the empowerment and participation of workers.

4 IMPACT sets ambitious and realistic objectives and priorities, and regularly and robustly evaluates its activities and outcomes.

5 IMPACT is a respected, agenda-setting organisation with a credible and influential voice in public discourse and policymaking.

Membership support Two membership support officers, who were appointed in 2011, have now established a valuable role in event organisation – including major events for retired members, health professionals and others – and assistance to branches to boost recruitment and IMPACT’s profile in the workplace.

They also give support to members, co-ordinate data, produce reports, and contribute to the administration and follow-up of the union’s new representative training programme, including the organisation of graduation events. The membership support officers also ensure that the union has a presence at relevant external events including professional conferences.

6 IMPACT provides effective leadership through its elected democratic structures and the recruitment and development of skilled and motivated staff.

7 IMPACT is a professional organisation with clear staff roles, modern office systems, effective administrative and recruitment procedures, and working arrangements that deliver services efficiently, consistently and responsively.

8 IMPACT values, respects, motivates and develops its staff.

9 IMPACT is a strong organisation that delivers value to its members through a range of services and benefits, including benefits tailored to the specific needs of discrete groups of members.

Communications The IMPACT members’ ebulletin was revamped in 2013 and is now produced fortnightly, with special bulletins from time to time. The ebulletin is now distributed to over 36,000 members and the union is actively working to increase the number of members who receive it. On average, just over 10,000 subscribers read the front page of the ebulletin each fortnight and 5,000 subscribers click through to one or more of the stories carried

10 IMPACT works with others to campaign for a more equal and equitable society, in Ireland and across the globe, and endeavours to operate to the highest ethical standards.

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in the bulletin. A small but growing number of readers share bulletin content via email and social media. The union’s Communications Unit also produces a daily (Monday to Friday) news digest and a fortnightly library bulletin for the union’s staff and senior activists.

•• The announcement of the IMPACT ballot result on ‘Croke Park 2’ in April 2013 attracted almost 8,000 visitors

The IMPACT website was redesigned and relaunched in May 2012. There were almost 600,000 visits to the site between January 2012 and March 2014, almost half of which were unique visitors. First-time visitors to the site account for just over half of the total. The fact that the number of new visitors is over five times the number of IMPACT members demonstrates that the website is widely used as an information source by both members and the general public.

Although the vast majority of visitors are from Ireland, a small but significant number of overseas visitors suggest a continuing interest in Ireland’s management of the economic crisis.

•• The publication of the Haddington Road agreement in May 2013 attracted over 7,000 visitors.

•• News of the defeat of the ICTU aggregate ballot on ‘Croke Park 2’ in April 2013 attracted almost 8,000 visitors

More recent peaks in website traffic followed the publication of new public service sick leave protocols and the successful conclusion of IMPACT’s long-running campaign to open up civil service promotion procedures. Peaks in traffic are partly driven by the publication of e-bulletins and special e-bulletins.

A website users’ survey was being conducted as this report went to print. The results of the survey will inform further improvements planned for later in 2014.

The most viewed and searched-for content relates to public service pay scales, updates on public service agreements, and changes to public service working conditions. Traffic peaked very significantly at particular times. For example:

The Communications Unit continues to improve the news and other content of the site and is producing a growing number of campaign and other videos for use on the site and at various union events. The union is increasingly active in social media and has a small but consistentlygrowing following on Twitter.

•• The publication of the ‘Croke Park 2’ draft agreement in February 2013 attracted over 17,000 visitors

The launch of the Turn Off the Red Light campaign, which IMPACT supported.

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IMPACT’s Communications Unit continues to produce four issues of the union’s magazine Work & Life each year and produced a range of other publications including the 2013 divisional reports and this biennial report, annual desk and wall calendars, diaries and promotional materials.

The unit also provided communications and media advice, along with print and electronic communication materials, to support various IMPACT campaigns, initiatives and events.

IMPACT communications staff are actively involved in the ICTU communications strategy group and made major contributions to ICTU communications and campaign work, including the 2013 Lockout centenary commemorations and the ongoing ‘decent work’ campaign.

communications staff provided media coordination for the ICTU Public Service Committee during the negotiations that led to the Haddington Road agreement.

Campaigns As well as being among the small group of unions that pioneered the establishment of the trade union-backed Nevin Economic Research Institute in early 2012 (see section one) IMPACT devoted substantial financial and human resources to ICTU’s ongoing campaign for decent work and an alternative to austerity policies and cuts in public services. Senior IMPACT officials, at national and regional level, worked full-time on the organisation of ICTU’s February 2013 protest about bank debt, which attracted over 110,000 people to mass demonstrations in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Sligo. As a result of this, and the mobilisation of IMPACT branches and activists, the union was very well represented at all the events across the country. IMPACT’s communications team also played a central role in the media, social media and other communications work for the

The Communications Unit continues to handle a substantial proactive and responsive media workload, which includes frequent liaison with journalists and editors, media appearances and briefings, and training for staff and IMPACT members who make media appearances on behalf of the union. In 2012-2103, IMPACT

IMPACT took the message to European bankers: We’re paying too much bank debt.

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event. The union continues to give consistent support to the ICTU decent work campaign and has also strongly supported European Federation of Public Service Union campaigns against EU austerity policies.

IMPACT has also been at the forefront of ICTU campaigns for legislation to strengthen collective bargaining rights, the reestablishment of legal wage-setting mechanisms and workplace standards in low-paid sectors of the economy, stronger protections for whistleblowers, the maintenance of health and safety inspections and other protections, and the effective regulation of lobbying. At EU level, the union has supported ICTU campaigns for improved collective bargaining rights, better parental leave provisions, and stronger protections for posted workers. The union also supported the successful European Federation of Public Service Union (EPSU) campaign for stronger protections against needlestick injuries. IMPACT was at the forefront of the EPSU campaign against the privatisation of water and sanitation services, which resulted in the first EU European Citizens’ Initiative success after mobilising over 1.7 million signatures calling for water services to be protected as a human right. EPSU launched that campaign at the 2012 IMPACT biennial delegate conference.

IMPACT’s Health and Welfare Division continues to campaign and lobby on the basis of 2012 research commissioned by the union on the issues of health reform and universal health insurance.

The division has also publically campaigned against excessive hours worked by staff in residential care settings, and has led the community campaign to retain a mental health unit in Ballinasloe.

Along with Siptu, IMPACT has been involved in a long-running campaign against cuts in the voluntary and community sector. The union’s Boards and Voluntary Agencies also campaigned to protect homelessness services as Dublin City Council set its 2014 budget and has since launched a campaign, based around the 2014 local government elections, calling on candidates to pledge their support for future funding.

IMPACT’s Communications Unit supported the union’s Coillte branch in its successful campaign to prevent the sale of timber harvesting rights. In December 2012, the union launched the Save Our Forests campaign and website, which won support from a range of community, environmental, sporting and countryside groups. The union’s Save Our Forests booklet formed the basis of an extensive political lobbying and public information campaign, which won broad political support for a Government rethink. The union then made a decisive intervention in the debate with the commissioning and publication of a report by economist Peter Bacon, which concluded that the proposed sale would cost the State €1.3 billion.

Following the Government’s June 2013 decision not to proceed with the sale, the union has continued to campaign to prevent the company being merged with Bord Na Mona. Along with ICTU and Siptu, IMPACT has also campaigned through political lobbying and public information to prevent the sale of the State’s remaining share in Aer Lingus.

The union engaged in an extensive, though ultimately unsuccessful, campaign to prevent the privatisation of Dublin City Council’s refuse collection service. The union produced a detailed policy document setting out the arguments against privatisation, which won the support of a majority of elected members on the council.

However, the authority went ahead with

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Activists from Munster were among the 300-plus graduates from the new IMPACT training programme.

Training

privatisation early in 2012. In 2013-2014, the union’s Municipal Employees’ and Local Government divisions campaigned with Siptu to keep responsibility for Dublin’s emergency ambulance services within the Dublin fire service. Meanwhile, in collaboration with a working group led by the Educational Disadvantage Centre at St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, IMPACT’s Education Division has campaigned on the issue of hunger prevention in schools. It has also developed campaign work on the issues of mental health in schools and the value of arts education in addressing disadvantage and helping prevent early school leaving.

Well over 300 IMPACT representatives have completed modular training courses for emerging or more experienced activists since a new training programme was introduced in 2011. The success of the programme is largely due to the commitment of the participants and the staff who prepare and deliver the training materials and organise training sessions, graduation and other essential follow-up. The first graduation ceremony saw over 70 course participants receive certificates in November 2013. Other graduation events have taken place since. The level of interest and participation continues to surpass expectations and additional courses have been run to meet the high demand for places. However, a number of branches are yet to avail of the opportunity.

In cooperation with IMPACT members working in the area of rape crisis and violence against women, IMPACT has promoted and supported the ‘Turn Off The Red Light’ campaign. The union has also promoted and supported the campaign work of the Clean Clothes campaign, the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland and various international trade union campaigns, including Justice for Colombia, Trade Union Friends of Palestine and the ongoing International Trade Union Confederation campaign against the extreme exploitation of migrants working on the construction of infrastructure for the 2020 soccer world cup. The union also strongly supported and promoted certain key campaigns of other unions, particularly Siptu’s ‘Fair Hotels’ and Mandate’s ‘Fair Shop’ campaigns.

A number of follow-up courses have also been delivered in areas like public speaking, branch strategy, using the state’s industrial relations infrastructure and other subjects, while ongoing training programmes for branch officers and others continue to be developed and delivered.

IMPACT’s training sub-committee is committed to the new training courses and to expand the range of courses available to activists, including in conjunction with other unions.

Special needs assistant Amy Rice.

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New benefits

Lockout centenary commemorations

IMPACT negotiated an increase, from €4,000 to €5,000, in the value of its critical illness and death in service benefits, which were first introduced in January 2012. The union is currently finalising an additional personal injury benefit. The union used its written and electronic communications channels to inform members of these and other benefits, including a range of free telephone help lines. The benefits were also heavily promoted by IMPACT’s membership support officers and the union produced a range of specific promotional materials. There has been an increased uptake from members as a result. The union’s membership services committee continues to monitor the value and delivery of membership benefits and explore the scope for additional schemes.

IMPACT was closely involved in the 2013 Dublin Lockout commemorations and its communications staff contributed substantially to the work of the ICTU team that planned and implemented an impressive range of events. IMPACT gave significant financial support to the Dublin Tenement Experience: Living the Lockout initiative.

ANU Productions won the prestigious judges’ special award at the Irish Times theatre awards for the sell-out theatre event at 14 Henrietta Street, Dublin, which ran for over six weeks with seven performances a day. IMPACT staff were also involved in the planning and execution of the official commemoration ceremony, led by President Michael D Higgins in Dublin’s O’Connell Street on 31st August 2013, where a number of IMPACT members participated in a reenactment of 1913’s infamous Bloody Sunday baton charge.

Young workers IMPACT has continued its support for the ICTU Youth Connect programme, which saw over 20,000 students participate in the trade union schools programme in 2013 and 2014. The union also continued to give financial support to the Irish Secondary-Level Students Union (ISSU). The IMPACT youth committee, established in 2010, continues its work and the union has increased its participation in the ICTU youth committee and related events and initiatives.

The Municipal Employees’ Trade Union banner formed the centrepiece of the ‘Banners Unfurled’ exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland and remained on display in the museum’s lockout exhibition. IMPACT part-funded a special module and video competition, about the Lockout and the continuing struggle for decent work, for the ICTU Youth Connect schools programme.

Retired members IMPACT’s Retired Members’ Vocational Group continues to be active and has organised a number of events and initiatives, including a conference on pension issues in the public and private sectors.

Irish Congress of Trade Unions Shay Cody, Kevin Callinan and Louise O’Donnell were re-elected to ICTU’s Executive Council in 2013. Shay Cody was also re-elected to ICTU’s General Purposes Committee and as chair of its Public Services Committee. IMPACT representation on other ICTU committees is set out in appendix six of this report.

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IMPACT’s Communications Unit made a number of promotional videos, including this one featuring youth services.

Developing world fund

A large number of IMPACT members were involved, in professional or voluntary capacities, in commemorative events and initiatives at the National Museum, the National Library, the National Archives, the Hugh Lane Gallery, the Irish Labour History Society, Dublin and Dun Laoghaire libraries and elsewhere. IMPACT members also participated in a food ship reenactment in October 2013. IMPACT is producing a short video to capture its participation in the commemorations, and this will be shown at the union’s 2014 biennial delegate conference where the Lockout tapestry will also be on display.

IMPACT’s developing world fund donated over €500,000 to trade union, health, education, economic development, and human rights projects in the developing world in both 2012 and 2013.

Over €7 million has been donated since the fund, which consists of 3% of every member’s union subscription, was established. Among the projects that received support in 2012-2013 were Concern projects in India and Haiti, assistance to trade union and human rights defenders in Colombia, Nurture Africa’s work with Ugandan children and communities affected by AIDS and HIV, and the trade union initiative Disability Action Abroad. The fund also made substantial donations to emergency appeals in Haiti, Syria and the Philippines as well as approving a range of small grants for IMPACT members involved in charity or development initiatives. Many of the large projects funded are managed and developed by the international trade union federation Public Services International which in 2013 took the initiative to improve its already robust reporting and evaluation procedures. In early 2014 the IMPACT Central Executive also approved revised conditions and criteria for project applications designed to simplify the project application, funding and evaluation process and make it more transparent.

Europe and the world IMPACT is affiliated to the international trade union federation Public Services International and its regional body, the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU). It is also affiliated to the International Transport Federation and the European Transport Federation on behalf of its members in the aviation sector. IMPACT deputy general secretary Kevin Callinan is a member of EPSU’s Executive Committee and the union is represented on EPSU sectoral committees for health and social services (Louise O’Donnell), local and regional government (Peter Nolan) and public administration (Eamonn Donnelly). IMPACT representatives remained active in the ICTU global solidarity committee and a number of IMPACT members attended its annual summer schools.

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Supporting the community IMPACT’s small grants fund for Dublin’s north east inner city again donated €50,000 to intercultural and education projects in the area in both 2013 and 2014. The fund, which was established in 2006, has now distributed over €400,000 in small grants to projects in the locality.

Finance and administration The IMPACT subscription is 0.8% of basic salary with a subscription ceiling linked to the minimum point of the local authority grade VI scale, which fell to €44,800 in 2010 following cuts in public service salaries. A number of branches and vocational groups also apply an additional levy to help them with their costs. Retired members can now retain union membership at a maximum cost of €96 a year. Branches receive 10% of their members’ subscriptions together with a capitation grant based on branch size. Vocational groups are funded through block grants based on applications from the groups themselves, plus the direct reimbursement of expenses for attending negotiations.

Seán Redmond.

Seán Redmond It was with great sadness that IMPACT members and activists heard of former IMPACT official Seán Redmond’s death in December 2012. Seán was the former national secretary of the union’s Municipal Employees’ Division. Prior to that he had worked with the Local Government and Public Services Union and the Irish Municipal Employees’ Trade Union, which he led into a merger with IMPACT in 1991. Seán was formerly the general secretary of the Connolly Association and was a founder member of Trade Unionists for Irish Unity. He was also a respected Labour historian whose published works included a history of the Irish Municipal Employees Trade Union.

Although IMPACT’s finances remain in a relatively healthy state, the union has put measures in place to maintain membership services and control expenditure as income fell because of declining membership in the recession. Despite falling share values, the dispute fund continues to be in a very healthy state. A summary of the accounts is published as appendix seven of this report. Copies of the full accounts are issued to all branches and are available to members on request.

Staffing and remuneration

The union’s membership database has continued to be developed and enhanced and more up-todate membership data is available to branches, on request, in a range of electronic formats.

Details of IMPACT staffing, staff remuneration and membership of external boards are set out in appendix five of this report.

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Section 4 Civil service

Redeployment

Cross-stream promotion

Redeployment protections and limits set out in the Croke Park agreement, including provisions for cross-sectoral redeployment, were sustained in the Haddington Road deal. An appeals process has been agreed. Just over 700 staff from civil service and non-commercial semi-state organisations had been redeployed by the end of October 2013 and there were 349 people on the redeployment resource panel at that time.

IMPACT’s long-running campaign to open up civil service promotion procedures succeeded with the publication of a new circular that confirms that any civil servant with the necessary skills, experience and attributes can compete for any promotion advertised. In the summer of 2013, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform confirmed that this was civil service policy but the circular, issued in January 2014, removed any doubt or discretion over its application. The old system of restricting eligibility for promotion to staff in the same grading stream consistently discriminated against staff in technical and professional grades. A requirement to have at least two years service remains in place. But the circular confirms that staff on fixed-term contracts can also compete for promotions, in the same way as comparable permanent staff, if they have two years continuous or aggregate service.

Performance management Discussions on a review of civil service PMDS got underway in 2013, as was required under the Croke Park agreement. Management sought to fundamentally alter the agreed process of calibrating ratings in a way that could lead to a ‘forced distribution’ of ratings, which would mean that a certain percentage of staff were deemed to be underperforming each year regardless of their actual individual performance. No agreement was reached on this and a system of calibration, which does not use ‘forced distribution,’ is being piloted.

Shared services The civil service Croke Park action plan, published in November 2011, required the establishment of shared services for civil service human resource (HR) management and pensions under a programme now called ‘people point’. Office

Management also proposed changes to the PMDS appeals system, which currently allows an independent review of performance evaluations.

IMPACT told management it would not countenance a Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) proposal that civil servants should pay €437 if they appealed their PMDS performance management outcome. DPER says the charge, which is the cost of processing a PMDS appeal, would be refundable in cases where appeals were upheld. The union dismissed the proposal out of hand, saying it would not even enter arbitration until it was dropped from the management agenda. IMPACT says staff have a fundamental right to appeal management decisions and should not be required to pay for a legitimate industrial relations process.

IMPACT told management it was prepared to go to arbitration on other management proposals that have emerged in discussions on reform of the PMDS system, including a proposal that appeals would be restricted to staff who are rated in the lowest two categories, which are the ratings that incur penalties on increments and eligibility for promotion.

Ruth Coughlan, CLME Branch.

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Agriculture dispute

premises were secured in south Dublin and applications were sought for appropriate staff to transfer. A timetable for the transfer of HR and pension activities from departments and offices was drawn up with transfers taking place between 2013 and 2014. Plans for shared payroll services, which were announced in 2013, should see functions transfer from offices and departments on a phased basis between the end of 2013 and the end of 2015.

IMPACT agreed to suspend industrial action by over 600 Department of Agriculture technical agricultural officers in February 2014 after management agreed to enter a Labour Relations Commission-assisted process to address a comprehensive list of issues tabled by the union.

The industrial action started in January in a dispute over staffing levels and the department’s failure to implement reports that would generate savings by optimising the skills and resources of technical grades. The LRC process was also to address the grading structure, developing meaningful roles for agriculture officers, the need for a “changed culture towards technical staff and a rebuilding of trust in the collapsed industrial relations system,” and a range of other industrial relations issues.

Grievance procedure There was no progress on plans to revise the civil service grievance procedure. However, IMPACT believes the current disciplinary policy is both prejudicial and unsafe and the union has said the issue should be processed as a priority.

Equal opportunities The general council equality sub-committee met in 2013 for the first time since 2011. A timetable has been set for a review of the civil service bullying and harassment policy, which is to be completed in 2014. Crèche operators have been informed of a management decision that the civil service is to cease the direct provision of crèches. All the operators expressed interest in taking up the option of continuing to operate under new licence arrangements and the transition is being monitored.

The general council’s disability sub-committee held one meeting during 2013 where it discussed visually impaired telephonists, redeployment issues, the role of disability liaison officers, access to Government Buildings, and the potential impact of new sick leave arrangements.

Service officer grades During the talks that led to the Haddington Road agreement, IMPACT secured a review of the pay structures of FGE grades, which was aimed at protecting them from the anomalous combined negative effects of increased hours, the public service allowance review and changes in overtime rates. Talks now underway at the Labour Relations Commission should be concluded soon.

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Catriona Crowe, National Archives of Ireland, was among many IMPACT members whose work contributed to the 1913 Dublin Lockout centenary celebrations.

Section 5 Health and welfare

Health spending

Universal health insurance

Health spending fell more in Ireland than in any other European country between 2008 and 2011, with cuts of more than €2.7 billion and 12,000 fewer HSE staff, according to research from Trinity College. Its April 2014 report on health spending and performance said that spending reductions were achieved through significant cuts to staffing and pay, reduced professional fees, better deals with pharmaceutical companies, and more flexible working arrangements facilitated by the Croke Park agreement. It argued that these measures made it possible to do ‘more with less’ up to the end of 2012, but since then services have been suffering from continued cuts. Since November 2012, the number or people waiting six and 12 months for treatment has trebled and some savings have been achieved by transferring the cost of care onto service users through increased charges for prescriptions and hospital services.

IMPACT was preparing its response to a White Paper on universal health insurance as this report went to print. The union moved quickly to expose the risks inherent in health minister James Reilly’s plans when the White Paper was published in April 2014. The union expressed its disappointment at the minister’s determination to press ahead with a ‘competing private insurers’ model and criticised the restrictive consultation process he has outlined. The union has urged the Government to evaluate an alternative ‘single-payer’ social insurance model like those used in France, Germany and Nordic countries.

The 2012 IMPACT-commissioned report by Dr Jane Pillinger, called The Future of Healthcare in Ireland, recommended that all the options for universal insurance should be evaluated – in terms of quality, equity, access to services, and medium and long-term value for money – before any particular funding model was adopted. It said there were continuing increases in the price of compulsory insurance in other countries that have adopted the ‘competing insurers’ model, coupled with increasing restrictions of the health services covered.

Hospital clusters Maintaining nationally-agreed pay and working conditions in new regional hospital clusters remains a priority for IMPACT. In late 2012, the union published a detailed critique of proposed new health structures, which was commissioned from health expert Dr Jane Pillinger. The union has expressed concerns that the range, quality and availability of hospital services may not be maintained in the new system, amid fears that centralisation will mean patients having to travel long distances to get certain services.

Clerical and administrative staff The number of clerical, administrative and management staff employed by the HSE and major hospitals has fallen by over 13% since 2009, according to official figures. This is the biggest drop of any staff group except ‘general support staff’. Publicising the figures, IMPACT said they scotched the myth that the health service employs too many administrators. The figures also show that almost 70% of the HSE’s ‘management and admin’ staff category are in the lowest two pay grades. Almost 40% of admin staff are employed at the lowest grade. Admin and management staff now make up just over 15% of total HSE staffing.

Most of them perform front-line roles or provide direct support to front-line staff, while others deliver vital services like payroll, IT, HR, finance, procurement and information.

A special meeting of the union’s health and welfare branches was briefed on the implications of the new structures in early 2014. The new model – which will see the establishment of six large hospital groups nationwide, plus the national children’s hospital – is now being rolled out in the West-North West region. Each hospital group will include a range of hospitals providing general medical, acute care, day surgery and elective inpatient surgery.

IMPACT arranged meetings for members in the various cluster areas to ensure good and wellinformed union representation in each region. A forum for IMPACT hospital representatives in the West-North West region was established and this approach is likely to be followed elsewhere as more clusters are rolled out.

Late in 2013, IMPACT wrote to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform asking him to back up his claim that the HSE has identified “at least” 1,500 surplus administrators on its payroll.

No confirmation of that figure was received. Most

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Redundancy and incentivised career breaks

HSE areas have identified shortfalls in admin staff and less than 10% of staff who applied were allowed to take unpaid career breaks in 2013.

A voluntary redundancy package in the health sector was put in place in January 2014, but management said it would not be open for general application. It only will be used when staff who cannot be redeployed are identified as surplus to requirement. Although the HSE put an incentivised career break scheme in place, very few staff who applied were released by management. IMPACT has sought a rethink on this issue, but there is no indication that there will be a significant increase in the numbers of career breaks being approved. IMPACT’s Health and Welfare executive decided that, in view of staffing shortages across the sector, it would not actively pursue the implementation of voluntary redundancies or incentivised career breaks.

The HSE figures show that overall health service staffing fell by almost 10% - from 111,770 to 100,894 – between March 2009 and July 2013.

The number of clerical officers fell by over 22%.

The next largest declines in the management and admin stream were at director level (19%) and senior management (16%). The smallest staffing decline in the management-admin stream has been among middle management grades (5%).

Child and Family Agency Around 4,000 staff transferred to the new Child and Family Agency, which was officially launched in January 2014. The new body, which has a budget of €600 million and a national network of over 100 community-based family resource centres, marks a turning point in child protection and also brings fundamental changes for the staff involved.

IMPACT established a framework agreement with the children’s department to facilitate the transfer of staff to the new agency. The agreement covers staff transfers, professional registration, workforce planning, recruitment, regularisation, industrial relations, support services and continuous professional development. A staff handbook covering human resource policies, procedures and agreements is being prepared.

Shared services The HSE plans shared services in procurement, ICT, estates, legal services, human resources and certain areas of finance including payroll.

The Haddington Road agreement contains a commitment to a consultation forum on the proposals. A procurement agreement reached in talks at the Labour Relations Commission is progressing and work has commenced on changes to logistics and inventory management in line with the agreement. A review of new category specialist and area business lead posts established that they should be at grade VIII level. IMPACT and other unions have received proposals on the design and staffing of the Office of Government Procurement, which was established in 2012.

Discussions are underway with the assistance of the Labour Relations Commission.

A National Joint Council, with staff and management representatives, will be the industrial relations forum in the agency and joint IMPACT-management working groups have been established to deal with social work caseload management, the development of family support services, social care staff in residential and community settings, and clerical and administrative grades.

Regularisation of acting positions A circular giving effect to the commitment on regularisation of acting positions, which was won

by IMPACT in the talks that led to the Haddington Road agreement, issued with effect from October 2013. It sets out procedures and confirms that there will be no acting positions in future.

From now on, vacancies that have to be filled temporarily will be filled in accordance with the public appointments protocol. The circular applies to the HSE and ‘section 38’ voluntary bodies.

Haddington Road agreement IMPACT national secretary Louise O’Donnell is a member of the health sector implementation group, which was established to monitor issues arising from the implementation of the Haddington Road agreement, along with other management and union representatives. The Croke Park affirmation and adjudication protocol has been extended to deal with issues arising under the Haddington Road agreement.

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Sleepovers

The Haddington Road agreement set a December 2013 deadline to resolve the issue but no progress was made in a series of discussions assisted by the Labour Relations Commission, even though management conceded that they were in breach of working time legislation. The union referred the issue to the Labour Court, which again recommended further conciliation and a final resolution by the end of May 2014.

IMPACT lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission over excessive hours worked by residential care staff. The union, which says health employers are in breach of EU and Irish working time legislation, also organised open meetings for the staff concerned around the county, circulated TDs and senators with information, and achieved national and local media coverage on the issue. In its official complaint to the Commission, the union cited management’s continuing breaches of the 1993 EU Working Time Directive, as well as its failure to implement decade-old European Court of Justice (ECJ) rulings on working time. The issue centres on the substantial hours that workers spend on-call while they are in situ at residential facilities over night.

Health employers do not treat these hours as working time for pay purposes, or when calculating the time that can be legally worked.

Sabrina Byrne, project worker at Dublin’s Merchant’s Quay project.

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Annual leave

Work experience schemes

IMPACT and management have jointly referred the issue of leave standardisation for voluntary hospital staff to the Labour Court as they could not reach agreement in negotiations. A commitment to revisit the issue was given during the talks that led to the Haddington Road agreement. An anomaly, which arose for staff at the top of their scale, and who only have 24 days annual leave, is currently under negotiation. The HSE agreed with IMPACT’s proposal that they would only have to give up one day’s leave, but the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has so far refused to allow this to be implemented.

IMPACT circulated an agreed protocol on the JobBridge scheme to all branches after discussions took place with the HSE. It was agreed that the scheme could not be used to fill acknowledged unfilled vacancies or replace staff who are on maternity or sick leave. Branches were asked to monitor JobBridge placements in their areas to ensure that they comply with the terms of the protocol. A specific internship programme for nursing and support staff was agreed under the Croke Park agreement. IMPACT branches were asked to ensure that support staff interns are not deployed to do clerical work as this is not the intention of the agreed scheme.

Promotion and recruitment panels IMPACT and other unions have sought a meeting with national recruitment services to address issues that emerged about promotion and recruitment panels, including unilateral management changes to qualification requirements in some cases.

Performance management The HSE performance management scheme was rolled out for clinical, administrative and analogous grades at grade VIII and above. The scheme was to be reviewed after 12 months and before it was rolled out to other grades. The union has not heard from management on the scheme review.

Community and voluntary sector Organisations in the community and voluntary sector continue to experience funding cuts and most staff remain subject to pay freezes or cuts, shorter working weeks and an increase in the number of redundancies. More organisations have sought to engage with the union on restructuring and reconfiguration to addresses severe cuts in funding. Some have engaged in union-management consultative forums that aim to develop sustainability plans. Where this approach has been embraced, more collaborative approaches have limited the impact of cuts on staff and services. IMPACT continues to work in the Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ community sector forum, which has raised the challenges facing the sector at a political level.

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John Lynch, physiotherapist, National Rehabilitation Hospital.

Section 6 Education

Organisation

her support for greater efforts to address mental health issues in schools. And the union raised the role of the arts in education with the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht at a meeting in February 2014.

History was made at IMPACT’s 2012 biennial delegate conference with the creation of a new Education Division against the background of an evolving legislative framework and the changing profile of IMPACT’s membership in the sector. In this context, the union’s Special Needs Assistants’ branch was replaced with four new branches in order to improve services and ensure fair representation within the new division. Four organisers were appointed. They now work with the SNA branches and other branches representing school staff. Transitional arrangements operated until the first, and highly successful, IMPACT Education Division conference took place in Kilkenny in April 2013.

IMPACT and other education unions expressed concern that proposals to devolve more spending and staffing powers to schools could increase bureaucracy and reduce transparency in the education system. Public expenditure and reform minister Brendan Howlin floated the proposals in January 2014, saying he wanted to test a new funding model based on block grants to allow schools determine how funds were spent at local level. IMPACT said the proposal could lead to the further marginalisation of pupils who need resource, language or special needs support because there would be pressure to emphasise mainstream teaching in spending decisions.

In June 2013 IMPACT’s Central Executive endorsed a proposal to establish an Education No.1 branch to bring together members who work in education but who were previously assigned to geographical branches. The change will provide a platform for growth and it is intended that the branch will organise and represent workers in early years education, third level, adult and further education, education centres and education agencies, as well as schools staff who are not SNAs, secretaries or Dublin caretakers. The branch’s first annual general meeting took place in February 2014.

Croke Park and Haddington Road agreements IMPACT deputy general secretary Kevin Callinan was a member of the education sector implementation group established under the Croke Park agreement and is currently a member of the oversight group which monitors the implementation of the Haddington Road deal.

The group is chaired by Anna Perry of the Labour Relations Commission.

IMPACT staff met with a number of senior officials from the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation at the end of 2013 to discuss co-operation and opportunities for future collaboration. The unions outlined their internal structures and explored possible joint initiatives on recruitment and the potential for developing joint training courses. The discussions have continued since.

Education and training boards The Education and Training Boards Act 2013 gave statutory force to the July 2013 reorganisation of 33 vocational education committees into 16 education and training boards. IMPACT’s VEC branch changed its name to the National Education and Training branch to reflect this development. The union had intensive negotiations with the education department and Education and Training Boards Ireland, which replaced the Irish Vocational Education Association as the employer body in the sector, to deal with the transition from VECs to education and training boards. Assistant general secretary Pat Bolger and branch officers held meetings with members in every affected area.

Policy initiatives As well as work specific to the grades represented

by IMPACT, the union’s Education Division has undertaken a number of initiatives on wider education policy. In collaboration with members of a working group led by the Educational Disadvantage Centre at St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, IMPACT worked to highlight the issue of hunger prevention and healthy eating in schools. A submission on the issue was sent to the Minister for Social Protection. The division also wrote to the Minister for Children to seek

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Institutes of technology

SOLAS

January 2014 saw the publication of the heads of a bill to establish technological universities by facilitating mergers of institutes of technology.

Technological universities are intended to provide high quality enterprise-focused education and research. IMPACT has been in discussions with the education department and sectoral management over the implications of these developments for staff and union representation. The Institutes of Technology branch has conducted regular local meetings to inform members about the implications of the complex changes.

The Further Education and Training Act 2013 legislated for the dissolution of FÁS and the transfer of its work to SOLAS. The new body will have a function similar to that of the Higher Education Authority in the university sector.

Several hundred SOLAS staff are now being integrated into education and training boards.

These developments have raised major issues over workloads, reorganisation and union representation.

Special needs assistants A ballot of SNA members over issues of job security and appropriate duties delivered a 94% vote in favour of industrial action in December 2012. IMPACT used this mandate in the talks that led to the Haddington Road agreement (HRA) to win a specific provision to implement a June 2012 Labour Court recommendation on the establishment of a supplementary assignment panel for redeployment. The laterthan-expected conclusion of the HRA meant an interim arrangement was necessary for the 2013-2014 school year. This had some success in placing SNAs who lost their jobs. In the face of equivocation by the education department, IMPACT continues to press for a properlyresourced panel arrangement as agreed under the HRA.

National Education Welfare Board The National Education Welfare Board was brought under the auspices of the new Child and Family Agency, which was established in January 2014. Educational welfare officers transferred to the agency’s educational welfare service after IMPACT negotiated a framework agreement with management. The union is continuing to deal with outstanding staff alignment issues.

School completion programme Responsibility for the school completion programme has transferred to the new Child and Family Agency under an arrangement that replicates its previous relationship with the National Education and Welfare Board. Half of IMPACT members in the programme lack the protections of the Haddington Road agreement because they are not yet formally established as public servants. There has been a small number of compulsory redundancies in the area. The funding agency Pobal has produced a report on the school completion programme and a review of the service will be conducted once this is published.

The HRA also mandated the Labour Relations Commission to conduct a review of how the 72 hours working time, arising from the conversion of 12 out-of-term days under the Croke Park deal, could be effectively and appropriately used. The first meeting did not take place until February 2014. IMPACT and management have set out their respective perspectives on the matter. The union’s position was informed by a survey of members, which elicited 2,000 individual responses. There has been an enthusiastic response to unionorganised training that could be offset against the 72 hours.

School secretaries and caretakers The education department continues to cite the state of public finances as a reason for delaying the work of the joint forum on pay and conditions.

Nonetheless, in November 2013 it was agreed to proceed with some technical work in anticipation of an improved climate. The union is exploring whether equality and employment rights legislation could provide an alternative route to remedy secretaries’ and caretakers’ two-tier employment conditions. It is also preparing a campaign to highlight the injustice.

IMPACT achieved substantial media exposure on the issue of assaults on SNAs when the results of another survey were reported to its 2013 education conference.

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The National Council for Special Education’s (NCSE) June 2013 announcement that the number of SNA posts was to remain capped at 10,575 for the fourth year running caused considerable controversy. IMPACT lobbied for improvements and an additional 390 posts for the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 school years were announced in December 2013. The union made a written submission and gave oral evidence on the role of SNAs to a Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection in October 2013.

IMPACT representatives are participating in an NCSE working group on the issue and the union is exploring options for formal training, education, qualifications and professional development for SNAs.

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Section 7 Local government and municipal employees

Organisation

tax. The union was arranging a major conference on the future of local government as this report went to print.

The Local Government and Local Services Divisional Executive Committee finalised proposals on enhanced communications with branches to complement the divisional council structures.

The DEC plans to organise a series of workplace meetings at branch level. Discussions have taken place with IMPACT’s Communications Unit with a view to developing the profile of the union in local government. Focused meetings on workforce planning, long-term acting and the abolition of town councils took place in November 2013 and February 2014. Regional local authority networks have met in the northwest, southeast and Dublin.

The Municipal Employees’ division launched a newsletter in 2013. A number of representatives from both divisions undertook the new training courses for IMPACT workplace reps.

Haddington Road agreement IMPACT national secretary Peter Nolan represents members of the municipal employees’ and local government divisions on the local government oversight group, which was eventually established under the Haddington Road agreement in November 2013. The group, which has responsibility for overseeing the implementation of the Haddington Road agreement, is chaired by Damien Cannon.

Local Authority National Council IMPACT national secretary Peter Nolan represents members of the municipal employees’ and local government divisions on the Local Authority National Council (LANC), which is made up of union and employers’ representatives. The union has lodged a claim for improved leave for new entrants and promoted staff.

Local government reform The principle of a locally-based property tax has been supported by the union’s municipal employees’ and local government divisions since the abolition of domestic rates in 1977. The introduction of local property tax in 2010 coincided in equivalent reductions in exchequer funding for local government. It remains to be seen whether the tax will bring tangible benefits to the sector.

Partnership A substantial review of the partnership process has been completed. IMPACT and other unions successfully sought the retention of the principal of the ‘handling significant change’ protocols, but the withdrawal of funding for the partnership process has stalled proceedings. LANPAG met only once in 2013. Some limited partnership activity continues at local level. The parties have agreed that a review of the current arrangements is overdue. IMPACT has insisted that employee entitlements under the Employee (Provision of Information and Consultation) Act rests within the handling significant change process and must be retained in any revised partnership structures.

Local Government Act 2013 The Local Government Act 2013 facilitates the abolition of 80 town councils and the creation of municipal districts at sub-county level. It also makes provision for a plebiscite in Dublin to consider the prospect of a directly-elected mayor.

The union is seeking to ensure that conditions of employment will remain a function of county managers, who are to be re-titled chief executive officers.

While the Act sets out to strengthen the functions of local authorities, other policy developments have systematically removed functions like water services and driver licensing from local authorities. This is against the European Union principle of subsidiarity and the OECD review of the Irish public service, which advocated that local authorities be the first choice for service delivery.

The continued erosion of local authority services is likely to reduce the legitimacy of the local property

Working hours IMPACT opposed proposals by county managers to unilaterally increase working hours in local authorities. After a protracted campaign, the matter was referred for binding decision to the Labour Court, which recommended that the increase in working hours be capped at 34 hours.

Attempts by the employers to seek further increases in working hours were resolved in the context of the Haddington Road agreement, and

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it was established that no further increases would be imposed on local authority workers other than those set out in the earlier March 2013 Labour Court recommendation. The union successfully opposed attempts by some authorities to withhold the staff option of maintaining working hours and accepting a pro-rata pay reduction. A civil service review of working patterns for those who opted to remain on reduced hours will form the basis of discussions across the public service, including local authorities. Attempts by some local authorities to reduce annual leave for staff who opted to continue to work reduced hours was also successfully resisted.

The resultant Irish Water Consultative Group (IWCG) is chaired by Kevin Foley of the Labour Relations Commission and comprises representatives of employers and unions. IMPACT is represented on the IWCG by Éamonn Donnelly, Shay Kavanagh and Ed Walsh.

IMPACT successfully negotiated on the provision of service level agreements between Irish Water and the local authorities. These agreements will remain in place until 2026. Additionally IMPACT has sought and received assurances that no member will be compulsorily conscripted to Irish Water. The IWCG continues to deal with a range of issues like billing and procurement arrangements. The protections won by IMPACT represent a very substantial achievement, particularly in the context of privatisation of water services worldwide.

Matters relating to overtime rates and call-out arrangements have been referred to a third party process. While the increase in working hours has automatically reduced the overtime rate, most staff are not obliged to do overtime.

At present, local authority employers are not agreeing to payment for hours worked between the contracted working week and 37 hours. The matter has been referred to the oversight group.

The union also participated in a European Federation of Public Service Unions’ initiative on the right to water, which resulted in the first public petition to the European Parliament under the European citizens’ initiative. The European trade union position on the right to water was formally presented to the European Parliament in February 2014.

Flexitime IMPACT has been supporting branches where members do not currently have access to flexitime. Limited progress has been made in Carlow, Kilkenny and Donegal. Following consultation with branches, the union has deferred lodging a claim for a national flexitime scheme. A number of branches have successfully introduced changes in existing flexitime schemes to mitigate the effects of the increased working hours.

Long-term acting IMPACT’s municipal and local government divisions had been seeking the resolution of disputes over long-term acting positions on the basis of policies adopted at divisional conference in 2011 and 2013. The employers have said they will only consider regularisation of acting positions on the basis that the posts will be filled by competition. This position conforms to the IMPACT division’s policy. During the talks that produced the Haddington Road agreement, IMPACT won agreement on a process to regularise long-term acting positions following the completion of a workforce plan in each local authority. These workforce plans were to have been completed by December 2013. In November 2013, the union advised branches to engage in negotiations with employers on the issue, but only a third of local authorities had completed their workforce plans by February 2014.

Irish Water IMPACT’s local government and municipal employees’ divisions lobbied for the retention of water services within the local authority sector and the retention of water as a publicly-controlled utility. However, responsibility for water services was transferred to Irish Water, a new subsidiary of Bord Gais. Following the decision, IMPACT sought to retain operational responsibility for water services through service level agreements between Irish Water and each local authority.

With the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, IMPACT sought the establishment of a high-level group to oversee arrangements in the sector.

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Shared services

Housing

The implementation committee established under the Croke Park agreement considered a detailed range of proposals on shared services and a presentation was made to unions in 2011. Since then there has been a marked deterioration in the consultative process. At present, a shared service arrangement for payroll has been established in Laois County Council. The division has told management that any promotions arising from the establishment of shared services must be open to all eligible staff in all affected local authorities. Following a union request, an update of shared service proposals is to be given to the Local Authority National Council. Shared service provisions for veterinary services were the subject of separate discussions.

The union has been concerned about the reducing role of local authorities in the provision of housing.

A position paper opposing the privatisation of housing services produced by the Cork branch was approved by the union’s Local Government and Local Services Division and branches were requested to utilise the protocol on service delivery contained in the Croke Park agreement in the event of any attempt to outsource housing services.

Municipal employees’ issues

Job descriptions

Sick leave

The union sought discussions on a revision of job descriptions for core grades as the last agreed job descriptions date back to 1974. The Local Government Management Agency has agreed in principle to these discussions.

The changes to sick leave arrangements for staff with critical illnesses, implemented in 2014 under the Croke Park agreement, bought benefits to members in the Municipal Employees’ Division. They now have access to six months paid sick leave, followed by six months on half pay. The details are on the IMPACT website.

Libraries Library services have been hit by staffing reductions and a number of branches have been in dispute on the matter. Agreements to recertify grades have been reached at local level in a number of areas. Disputes in relation to supervising and grading responsibilities in Fingal have been referred to Workplace Relations and the union has reiterated its opposition to the use of volunteers in libraries. The publication of a departmental report called Opportunities for All makes reference to staffless libraries and Sunday opening. The LGMA has suggested that the proposals will not involve any change to the working conditions of IMPACT members. The union flatly rejects this and has advised branches not to co-operate with the proposals until the union’s concerns have been resolved.

Overtime payments The non-payment of the first hour overtime under the Haddington Road agreement caused significant problems, particularly where extra duties remained even though the overtime payment was cut. However, overtime payments for the first hour resumed on 1st April 2014.

Fortnightly pay Dublin city council changed from weekly to fortnightly pay at the beginning of 2014 and gave staff the option of a €400 interest free loan. Pension payments also changed from weekly to fortnightly with no discussion with either pensioners or the union. IMPACT sought to reverse this, or to get the loan option for pensioners, but the council refused.

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Gateway

Education

IMPACT raised the Gateway project with both Dublin City and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown councils and it was agreed that no core work would be done by scheme participants. The union was told that no more than 60-70 participants would be taken on, despite media reports that Dublin City Council would take on up to 800 participants including in parks, even though the council had recently transferred park workers to libraries. The union sought clarification on this.

Discussions are underway on Dublin Institute of Technology’s (DIT) proposal to move the vast majority of its functions to a new site in Grangegorman, which will eventually see the relocation of most staff to the new campus.

IMPACT has some concerns over the use of a public-private partnership arrangement and the outsourcing of some roles. IMPACT visited Trinity College and University College Cork to view inhouse security arrangements and has consulted the affected members. It is proposed that the move will take place over a number of years starting in 2014 when a small number of staff and students will relocate. Negotiations will continue in 2015 and 2016.

Grievance procedures IMPACT has questioned the usefulness of the Dublin City Council grievance process as it is rare for a management decision to be overturned on appeal.

Dublin VEC was amalgamated with local FÁS services to become an Education and Training Board. Meetings were arranged over the amalgamation of four training colleges; Church of Ireland, UCD, St Patrick’s and Mater (MDI).

Parks Dublin City Council is proposing to rationalise its parks depots. IMPACT met its representatives in the area and no major issues emerged. The union has requested a further update from the council and received a draft proposal as this report went to print.

Dublin city homeless service IMPACT has said it will oppose any proposals to outsource homelessness services after management refused to give the union a copy of a review it had commissioned.

Litter wardens The Dublin City Council litter warden service is being reviewed. The council has given a commitment that the service will be retained in house and the union is expecting proposals soon.

Fire fighters IMPACT welcomed an announcement that Dublin City Council would not proceed with a proposed review of the capital’s ambulance service, pending the outcome of an HSE national review of the service. The news came after several hundred firefighters marched on Dublin City Hall in a demonstration organised by IMPACT and Siptu in April 2014 to protest at plans to relocate the Dublin service to the HSE. The unions are continuing their campaign to protect the ambulance service.

Waste management IMPACT has set up a monthly meeting with management in Dublin City Council’s waste management department. The council is proposing to realign the inspectors’ areas with electoral areas and has met the inspectors’ and supervisors’ shop stewards. IMPACT met the supervisors group. IMPACT is seeking a re-grading for supervisors as the change will lead to a reduction in their numbers, extra responsibility and a larger geographical area.

Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council The union achieved a number of successes in individual cases taken on behalf of members in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.

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Damien Gilfoyle, Dublin Municipal Employees’ Branch.

Section 8 Services and enterprises

Sale of state assets

not proceed with the sale. The union continues to oppose the proposed merger of Coillte into Bord Na Mona.

The Programme for Government outlines plans for the sale of state companies and a 2012 agreement with the troika led to an announcement of the Government’s intention to raise €3 billion by selling state assets including Coillte harvesting rights and the Government’s 25% stake in Aer Lingus.

IMPACT opposed the sale of the Government’s Aer Lingus stake on the grounds that Ireland is heavily dependent on the company’s Heathrow slots, and its European and transatlantic routes, for international connectivity. The union argued that a sale would leave the state powerless to influence future route changes or prevent asset stripping or an undesirable change of ownership.

Aviation pensions The multi-employer Irish Aviation Superannuation Scheme continues to carry a deficit of almost €800 million. As part of the ICTU aviation group of unions, IMPACT entered a Labour Relations Commission (LRC) process in 2009 to seek an agreement that could rescue pension benefits based on service to date. In early 2012, the employers proposed measures including freezing and de-risking the €1.4 billion scheme assets and the creation of a separate defined contribution scheme in each company to cover pensions linked to future service. This complicated proposal, aimed at maximising the rescue of service to date, hinged on a parallel switch of investments to high-yield National Treasury Management Agency bonds.

Coupled with bespoke longevity swop insurance, this had the potential to rescue the service to date on a coordinated basis and provide a 2% annual revaluation of benefits.

Ryanair, which owns almost 30% of Aer Lingus shares, moved to take over the company in 2012.

IMPACT immediately opposed the move as bad for competitiveness, connectivity and jobs. The union also argued that the proposed price vastly undervalued Aer Lingus assets. The union lobbied Government ministers and MEPs throughout 2012 and 2013. In the summer of 2013, the EU rejected the bid on competition grounds. The Irish Government then also rejected the bid. Early in 2014, the UK Competition Authority also rejected it and demanded that Ryanair immediately sell its stake in the company. After each rejection, Ryanair repeated its intention to continue to pursue a takeover.

Unions engaged with these proposals but talks broke down when Aer Lingus refused to fund an adequate burden sharing scheme to cover the imposition of coordination to pension benefits. The company also refused to go to the Labour Court on the issue. This resulted in ballots and notice of industrial action was served. A helpful joint IBECICTU intervention then forced Aer Lingus to attend Labour Court hearings.

Late in 2012, IMPACT’s Coillte branch launched its Save our Forests campaign arguing that, among other things, the proposed sale of the company’s harvesting rights would restrict public access to forests and place 12,000 jobs at risk. The union brought together a coalition of representative groups to campaign against the sale. Its Coillte branch commissioned an independent report by economist Peter Bacon, which emphatically argued that the Government’s proposal could not be justified on economic grounds, would jeopardise jobs in the timber industry, and would liquidate Coillte as a viable commercial entity. The campaign was strengthened by financial contributions from over 20 IMPACT branches, who responded to the divisional executive’s call for assistance with the cost of the Bacon report. The union conducted an intensive Dáil lobby and gave evidence to the Dáil Committee for Agriculture and Food. In mid2013, the Government announced that it would

In 2013 the Court issued its recommendations and all sides awaited the trustee’s freeze and de-risk implementation proposal. By the time this arrived in February 2014, the trustee had missed the opportunity to acquire high-yielding government bonds. Available bonds could now only deliver 80% of the coordinated benefit with no prospect of future revaluation. The employers said they could not bridge this shortfall and a serious dispute was only averted when the Government appointed an expert panel to report on the crisis facing the scheme. An IMPACT delegation met the group in mid March 2014 and their report is awaited.

Meanwhile, the union has asked the Government to oppose a large proposed remuneration package for the company’s chief executive in light of the likely reduction in pension benefits for staff.

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Aviation policy

An Aer Arran pilots’ pay dispute was averted in July 2013 after the pilots accepted proposals to restore pay progression, which had been suspended since 2008, and implement a retention bonus scheme. A further pilot pay tribunal will meet before July 2014 and issue a recommendation in October 2014.

IMPACT contributed to ICTU submissions to the transport department on future aviation policy and participated in a 2013 ICTU seminar, which was attended by the transport minister.

Cabin crew

Communications

Late in 2013, Aer Lingus announced it was to close its Shannon cabin crew base unless IMPACT agreed that all transatlantic routes would be crewed with only four cabin crew. The move would have meant the potential loss of all jobs at the base. The branch balloted all its members in the Republic of Ireland and achieved a 91% majority in favour of industrial action. The dispute went to the Labour Relations Commission where an agreement was reached. This was put to ballot and accepted

by Shannon members.

The Communications branch continued to engage with Vodafone, Obelisk and Netshare on a range of issues including improvements to the performance appraisal system, a universal pay adjustment, representing staff transferred to Netshare, and the protection of pension entitlements.

Community employment schemes IMPACT met an advisor to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to discuss the implementation of a Labour Court finding, which recommended a pension scheme for community employment supervisors.

Pay in the commercial sector Since late 2012, modest pay recovery has been underway in commercial semi-state organisations and private companies and pay discussions are underway in most companies where the division has members. The union negotiated a new Coillte pay and reward scheme in 2012. This replaced traditional relativities and increments with an initial 2% lump sum, annual pay rises linked to increases in 23 comparable companies, and an annual results-based bonus scheme. In 2013 the scheme paid a pay rise of 0.55% and most of those eligible also secured a 2% bonus. Increases due in 2014 are currently under discussion.

Road Safety Authority IMPACT is taking part in an arbitration process aimed at resolving a dispute with the Road Safety Authority (RSA) over outsourcing in the recruitment of a reserve panel of driving testers.

This followed a half-day strike in early 2014, the first in the history of the service.

Non-commercial semi-state agencies Higher employment control framework figures and tough agency rationalisation measures have made staff in non-commercial state agencies more vulnerable than those in the broader public service. The protections in the Croke Park and Haddington Road agreements have been valuable in this context, against a background where reports by economist Colm McCarthy and others have recommended widescale abolition of agencies. IMPACT holds a seat on the Haddington Road sectoral oversight group where it deals with various issues including outsourcing.

In Dublin Airport Authority, pay recovery talks are exploring whether higher increases would be available under a pay and reward scheme similar to that negotiated in Coillte. The Aer Lingus ‘Greenfield’ cost recovery agreement expired in late 2012, but gain-sharing payments worth around €1,000 per worker were due in March 2014. The Greenfield agreement had halted the payment of increments, although pilots selffinanced increments until 2012 by trading variable pay. Pilots received their increment in April 2013 and are currently in a pay tribunal process. The Labour Court recommended that other staff in the company should receive pay stability payments for three years pending the resolution of the pension scheme issue. They were paid their increments in October 2013.

54

IMPACT rep and marine scientist Jennifer Doyle.

Appendices

Appendix one Mileage and subsistence Motor mileage rates health boards Effective 5th March 2009 Rates per mile Official motor travel in calendar year

up to 4000 miles 4001 miles and over

Engine capacity up to 1200cc cent 64.54 34.91

Engine capacity 1201 to 1500cc cent 76.94 39.14

Engine capacity 1501 and over cent 97.95 47.36

Engine capacity up to 1200cc cent 40.11 21.70

Engine capacity 1201 to 1500cc cent 47.82 24.33

Engine capacity 1501 and over cent 60.88 29.43

Rates per kilometre Official motor travel in calendar year

up to 6,437km 6,438km and over

Motor cycle allowance Rates per mile Official motor travel in calendar year

up to 4,000 miles 4,001 and over

Engine capacity up to 150cc cent 23.29 15.07

Engine capacity 151 to 250cc cent 32.34 21.42

Engine capacity 251 to 600cc cent 38.16 24.61

Engine capacity 601cc and over cent 46.01 28.31

Engine capacity up to 150cc cent 14.48 9.37

Engine capacity 151 to 250cc cent 20.10 13.31

Engine capacity 251 to 600cc cent 23.72 15.29

Engine capacity 601cc and over cent 28.59 17.60

Rates per kilometre Official motor travel in calendar year

up to 6,437km 6,438km and over

Domestic subsistence rate Effective 5th March 2009

Class of allowances A1 B2 1 2

Night allowances Reduced Detention Normal rate rate rate 108.99 100.48 54.48 107.69 92.11 53.87

Salary of €55,780 and above Salary of €55.779.99 and below

57

Day allowances 10hrs or 5hrs but less than more 10hrs 33.61 13.71 33.61 13.71

Motor mileage rates (civil service) Effective 5th March 2009 Rates per mile Official motor travel in calendar year

up to 4,000 miles 4,001 miles and over

Engine capacity up to 1200cc cent 62.94 34.13

Engine capacity 1201 to 1500cc cent 74.42 38.00

Engine capacity 1501 and over cent 95.05 45.79

Engine capacity up to 1200cc cent 39.12 21.22

Engine capacity 1201 to 1500cc cent 46.25 23.62

Engine capacity 1501 and over cent 59.07 28.46

Rates per kilometre Official motor travel in calendar year

up to 6,437km 4,438km and over

Civil service reduced motor mileage rates Rates per mile

Rates per kilometre

Engine capacity up to 1200cc 23.55 Engine capacity up to 1200cc 14.64

Engine capacity 1201 to 1500cc 26.76 Engine capacity 1201 to 1500cc 16.64

Engine capacity 1501 and over 31.36 Engine capacity 1501 and over 19.49

Domestic subsistence rates (civil service) Effective 5th March 2009

Class of allowances A B

Night allowances Reduced Normal rate Dention rate rate 108.99 100.48 54.48 107.69 92.11 53.87

58

Day allowances 10hrs or 5hrs but less than more 10hrs 33.61 13.71 33.61 13.71

Appendix two

Communications Eugene Gargan, Vodafone Ireland, Mountain View, Leopardstown, Dublin 18.

Branch secretaries

Community Employment Supervisors Paddy Quinn, 3 Hill View, Mountrath Road, Portlaoise, Co Laois.

Agricultural Laboratories Benny Conaty, Central Meat Control Laboratory, Backweston Campus, Youngs Cross, Celbridge, Co Kildare.

Conservation Leonard Floyd, Pairc Naisiunta Bhaile Chruaich, NPWS, Lag Dubh Mor, Baile Chruaich, Cathair Na Mart, County Mhaigh Eo.

Agriculture No.1 Liam Kelly, IMPACT, Nerney’s Court, Dublin 1.

Cork Raymond Daly, Aras Slainte, Wilton Road, Cork.

Court Ushers Martin McCarthy, c/o Mr Justice Kevin Cross, The Supreme Court, Four Courts, Dublin 7.

Air Traffic Control Helen Sheridan, Irish Aviation Authority, New Control Tower, Dublin Airport.

Dairy Produce Inspectors Thomas Cuddihy, Department of Agriculture and Food, Dairy Science Laboratory, Model Farm Road, Cork.

AMRO Civil Service J Guirey, Department of Transport, Valentia Costal Radio Station, Valentia Island, Co Kerry.

DoE Inspectors Darren Byrne, Environment Inspectorate, Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, Custom House, Dublin 1.

AMRO State Enterprises Paul O Shea, Shannon Air Radio, Ballygirreen, Newmarket-on-fergus, Co Clare.

An Bord Pleanala Christopher Byrne, An Bord Pleanala, 64 Marlborough Street, Dublin 1.

Architectural Engineering and Heritage William Sargent, Office Of Public Works, 52 St. Stephen`s Green, Dublin 2.

Donegal local government Marie Little, Housing Department, Donegal County Council, Public Services Centre, Donegal Town, Co Donegal. Donegal Health Angela McGinley, Oncology Day Unit, Letterkenny General Hospital, Letterkenny, Co Donegal.

Archives Brian Donnelly, National Archives, Bishop Street, Dublin 8.

Driver Testers Martin Slattery, 12 Coulson Avenue, Rathgar, Dublin 6.

Aviation, Safety and Regulatory John Sullivan, Irish Aviation Authority, Third Floor, AWSD, The Times Buildings, D’Olier Street, Dublin 2.

Dublin Care Services Geraldine Neill, ChildVision, Gracepark Road, Drumcondra, Dublin 9.

Dublin City Denise Kirwan, Central Area Office, Dublin City Council, 51-53 Sean McDermott Street, Dublin 1.

Ballinasloe Martina Hogan, Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe.

Dublin Hospitals Michelle Kenny, St. James Hospital, St. Lukes Radio Oncology Unit, James Street, Dublin 8.

Boards and Agencies Keivan Jackson, Focus Ireland, Block 4, Georges Hill, Dublin 7.

Cabin Crew Killian Brennan, c/o IMPACT, Nerney’s Court, Dublin 1.

Dublin North HSE David Hall, Primary Care Reimbursement Service, J5 North Park Offices, North Road, Finglas, Dublin 11.

Carlow Margaret Quinlan, Carlow County Council, Athy Road, Carlow.

Dublin South HSE Denise Gibson, St. Lomans Hospital, Ballyowen Road, Palmerstown, Dublin 20.

Cavan local government Mairtin O’Loingsigh, Cavan Town Council, Town Hall, Town Hall Street, Co Cavan.

Cavan Health Pamela Armitage, Child and Family Services, Drumlalee Cross, Cavan, Co Cavan.

Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Roisin Cronin, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Level 2, County Hall, Marine Road, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.

Central Statistics Office Daniel Linehan, Central Statistics Office, Crime Section, Skehard Road, Cork.

Education No.1 Mary Carey, Carrick-on-Shannon Education Centre, Dublin Road, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim.

Civil Service No.1 Thomas Madden, 2 Clonulty, Ballydangan, Athlone, Co Roscommon.

Energy Brian McConnell, Geological Survey of Ireland, Beggars Bush, Dublin 4.

Clare Carl Hale, Clare County Council, County Building, New Road, Ennis, Co Clare.

Fáilte Ireland Marie Gardiner, Fáilte Ireland, Blaney Road, Letterkenny, Co Donegal.

CLME Martin Haran, Malin Head, Inishowen, Co Donegal.

FGE Thomas Cowman, IMPACT, Nerney’s Court, Dublin 1.

Coillte John Lyons, Codrum, Macroom, Co Cork.

59

Fingal Paula Duffy, Estates Management, Housing Department, Fingal County Council, Grove Road, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15.

Legal Professional Brendan McMahon, Office of the Attorney General, Government Buildings, Upper Merrion Street, Dublin 2.

Forensic Science Judy Price, Department of Justice, Forensic Science Laboratory, Garda HQ, Phoenix Park, Dublin 8.

Leitrim local government Alan Martin, Planning Community and Economic Development, Leitrim County Council, Aras An Chontae, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim. Leitrim Health Mary Dolan, HSE Community Care, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim.

Gaeltacht Eamonn MacGoill, Rionn Ealaion Oidhreachta agus Gaeltachta, Ionad 4, Pairc Ghno Ghaoth Dobhair, Leitir Ceanainn, Co Dun na Gall.

Limerick local government Sinead Burke, Limerick City Council, Housing Department, City Hall, Merchant`s Quay, Limerick. Limerick health Maura Cahalan, Finance Department, HSE Mid West Region, Edward Daly House, Perry Street, Limerick.

Galway Tom Browne, IMPACT, Unit 23-24, Sean Mulvoy Business Park, Sean Mulvoy Road, Galway.

Government Supplies Agency Mick Dunne, Government Supply Agency, National Procurement Service, 17-19 Lower Hatch Street, Dublin 2.

Local Enterprise David Orford, Tolka Area Partnership, Rosehill House, Finglas Road, Dublin 11.

GVO Professional Paul Mooney, Valuation Office, Irish Life Centre, Lower Abbey Street, Dublin 1.

Local Government Auditors John Collins, Department of the Environment, Custom House, Dublin 1.

GVO Technical Derek O Brien, Valuation Office, Irish Life Centre, Lower Abbey Street, Dublin 1.

Longford Fiona Baskett, Longford County Council, Great Water Street, Longford.

Health and Safety Authority John Kennedy, The Health and Safety Authority, Block A, Loughmore Centre, Raheen Business Park, Limerick.

Louth Lorraine Quigley, Planning Department, Louth County Council, County Hall, Millennium Buildings, St. Alphonsus Road, Dundalk, Co Louth.

High Court and Supreme Court Officers Sonia Murphy, Supreme Court Office, 1st Floor, The Four Courts, Dublin 7.

Marine (Civil Service) David McMyler, Irish Coast Guard, Department of Transport, Leeson Lane, Dublin 2.

IAESA Joseph Collins, Dublin Airport Authority, 2nd Floor, Cloughran House, Dublin Airport.

Marine (Services and Enterprise) Jennifer Doyle, Marine Institute Headquarters, Rinville West, Oranmore, Co Galway.

IALPA Alan Brereton, IMPACT IALPA Office, Corballis Park, Dublin Airport, Co Dublin.

Mayo Cathy Blake, ICU Department, Mayo General Hospital, Westport Road, Castlebar, Co Mayo.

Institutes of Technology Siobhan O’Callaghan, Library, Institute of Technology Tralee, Tralee, Co Kerry.

Meath local government Stephen O’Hare, Meath County Council, Housing Department, County Hall, Navan, Co Meath. Meath health Michelle O Reilly, 4 The Willows, Beaufort Place, Navan, Co Meath.

Irish Youth Justice John Morton, Oberstown Boys Centre, Lusk, Co Dublin.

Kerry Mary McCarthy, Primary Care Projects Office, Block 1, St. Columbanus Hospital, St. Margaret’s Road, Killarney, Co Kerry.

Meteorologists Patrick Clarke, Met Eireann, Glasnevin Hill, Dublin 9.

Kildare Margaret O’Dwyer, Planning Section, Kildare County Council, Áras Chill Dara, Devoy Park, Naas, Co Kildare.

Monaghan local government John McGrory, Monaghan County Council, The Glen, Monaghan Town. Monaghan health Carol Mc Geough, HSE Cavan Monaghan, Support Services Building, Rooskey, Monaghan.

Kildare Health Joanne Dempsey, HSE Dublin South, St. Mary’s, Craddockstown Road, Naas, Co Kildare.

Municipal Employees David Green, IMPACT, Nerney’s Court, Dublin 1.

Kilkenny Sharon Young, Medical Records, St. Lukes Hospital, Kilkenny.

National Education and Training Boards Emer Walsh, Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa, Tramore Road, Cork.

Laois Gerard Monaghan, Fire Prevention and Safety Service, HSE Area Offices, Arden Road, Tullamore, Co Offaly.

National Education Welfare Board Joanne Rafferty, National Educational Welfare Board, 16-22 Green Street, Dublin 7.

Legal Officers Michael Collins, Chief State Solicitors Office, Osmond House, Little Ship Street, Dublin 8.

National Library Sandra McDermott, National Library, Kildare Street, Dublin 2

60

Sligo Sinead Costello, Eye Ward, Sligo General Hospital, The Mall, Sligo, Co Sligo.

National Museum Emma Mary Kate Crosbie, Registration Department, National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Benburb Street, Dublin 7.

SNAs Connaught-Ulster Eilise Garrell, St. Olivers Child Education and Development, The Glebe, Tuam, Co Galway.

OCFA Colm De Burca, OCFA Branch, Kildare House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2.

SNAs Munster Kathryn Cullen, Colaiste Phobal Roscrea, Corville, Roscrea, Co Tipperary.

Offaly Patricia Mellsop, Health Insurance Office, Midland Regional Hospital, Arden Road, Tullamore, Co Offaly.

SNAs North Leinster Bridie Shortall, St. Cronan’s National School, Brackenstown, Swords, Co Dublin.

Ordnance Survey Steven Pilgrim, Ordnance Survey Ireland, Airglooney House, Ballygaddy Road, Tuam, Co Galway.

SNAs South Leinster Mary Keating, Cabinteely Community School, Johnstown Road, Dublin 18.

Oireachtas Ushers James Harvey, Oireachtas, Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2.

Special Education Needs Organisers Maire Aherne, National Council for Special Education, Roscommon and East Mayo, Government Offices, Convent Road, Roscommon.

PAIB Colm Doran, Department of Agriculture and Food, PO Box 289, Finisklin Industrial Estate, Sligo.

South Dublin Pamela Farrell, IMPACT Office, South Dublin County Council, County Hall, Tallaght, Dublin 24.

Placenames Conchubhar O’Crualaoich, Department of Communications Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, 43-49 Bóthar Mespil, Baile Atha Cliath 4.

State Enterprise No.1 Lorraine Currivan, RPII, 3 Clonskeagh Square, Dublin 14.

Post Primary Inspectorate Gerard McGuire, Room 107, Department of Education and Science, South East Regional Office, Johnstown Business Park, John’s Road, Waterford.

State Laboratory Claire Timbs, State Laboratory, Backweston, Youngs Cross, Celbridge, Co Kildare.

Primary Inspectors Micheal Baiceir, Lissagurraun, Moycullen, Co Galway.

Teagasc Professional John Kelly, Clonakilty Agricultural College, Darrara, Clonakilty, Co Cork.

Probation Officers Sean Lowde, Clondalkin Probation Service, St. Marks Lane, Neilstown Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22.

Teagasc General Breege Foy, Teagasc, Abbey Road, Ballinarobe, Co Mayo.

Tipperary North Louise Ryan, Thurles Town Council, Slievenamon Road, Thurles, Co Tipperary.

Professional Accountants Lawrence Byrne, An Garda Siochana, Internal Audit Section, 89-94 Capel Street, Dublin 7.

Tipperary South Veronica Meaney, HSE South Eastern Region, Community Care Centre, Western Road, Clonmel, Co Tipperary.

Property Registration Authority Patrick Curran, Knockatore, The Rower, Thomastown, Co Kilkenny.

Waterford City Angela Power, 98 Clarke Road, Cork Road Estate, Waterford.

Psychologists Sorcha O Toole, NEPS, Frederick Court, 24-27 North Frederick Street, Dublin 1.

Waterford County Mary O’Brien, Waterford County Council, Civic Offices, Dungarvan, Co Waterford.

Publications and Terminology Pádraic Ó Farachtáin, Foras Na Gaeilge, An Gum, 24/27 Sraid Fhreidric, Thuaidh, Baile Atha Cliath 1.

Westmeath Yvonne Dowler, St. Mary`s Hospital, Mullingar, Co Westmeath.

Roscommon local government Marion Parker, Roscommon County Council, Roscommon West Business Park, Circular Road, Roscommon.

Roscommon health Frances McCann, Child and Family Agency, HSE West, Boyle Health Centre, Boyle, Roscommon.

Wexford Noel Stacey, Motor Taxation Office, Wexford County Council, County Hall, Carriglawn, Wexford.

Wicklow Karen Boyle, Wicklow County Council, IT Section, County Buildings, Wicklow, Co Wicklow.

Wicklow Health Rachael Elliott, Sunbeam House Services, Connect Employment, Carlisle House, Adelaide Road Bray, Co Wicklow.

School Completion Programme Dympna Byrne, St. Louise’s National School, Drumfinn Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10.

School Secretaries Marion Jackson, 14 Castlesize Walk, Sallins, Co Kildare.

61

Appendix three Central Executive Committee 2012–2014 President

Kevin O’Malley

Vice Presidents

Margaret Coughlan Michael Davis (from July 2013) Jerry King (senior vice president) Michael Scully Michael Tomney (from May 2012–June 2013)

Honourary Secretary

Maeve McCarthy Barrett

Honourary Treasurer

Tara Robertson

Honourary Equal Opportunities Officer

Pat Fallon

Civil Service

Bobby Carty (until May 2013) Willie Cumming (from July 2013) Eugene Dunne Kieran Sheehan (from July 2013) Andy Walsh (until May 2013)

Education

Jackie Lehane (from September 2012) Gina O’Brien (from September 2012) Michael Smyth (from September 2012)

Health and Welfare

Martin Bridgeman (until December 2012) Anthony Kelly (from January 2013) Tony Martin Patricia Mellsop (from June 2013) Ruth Robinson (until May 2013)

Local Government

Tom Browne (from June 2013) Eugene Farrelly (until June 2013) Shane Lambert Joe Sherlock

Shay Kavanagh Thomas Murtagh

Services and Enterprises

Evan Cullen

Municipal Employees

Tony Dawson Paddy Quinn Immediate Past President

John Power

There were 26 Central Executive meetings held between June 2012 and February 2014 inclusive.

Attendance at these meetings can be obtained from the general secretary’s office.

62

Appendix four Divisional Executive Committees Civil Service Division Chairperson

Eugene Dunne

Vice-Chairperson

Kieran Sheehan

Executive Members

Ellen Brennan, Marian Cody, Benny Conaty, Willie Cumming, Alan Duffy, John Muldowney, Siobhan Ni Ghriofa, Martin O’Brien, Pol O’Gaibhin, Tom Ryder, Sheila Smith, Andy Walsh, Gerry Wilson.

Education Division Chairperson

Gina O’Brien

Vice-Chairperson

Jackie Lehane

Executive Members

Paul Carey, Patricia Fanning, Benita Harbourne, Siobhan O’Callaghan, Kathleen O’Doherty, David Sexton, Michael Smyth.

Health and Welfare Division Chairperson

Tony Martin

Vice-Chairperson

Anthony Kelly

Executive Members

Derek Beattie, Rosemary Bracken, Helen Cousins, Raymond Daly, Don Gibney, Eamon Hannan, Patricia Mellsop, Harry Phelan, Ruth Robinson, Denis Rooney, Daniel Sweeney, Martin Walsh, Sinead Wynne.

Local Government Division Chairperson

Shane Lambert

Vice-Chairperson

Joseph Sherlock

Executive Members

Michael Barry, Finn Brophy, Tom Browne, Pat Considine, Eugene Farrelly, Raymond Kennedy, Ann Marie Maher, Catherine Murphy, Paul O’Halloran, Gerry O’Quigley, Sean Reid, Edward Walsh, Michael Whyms.

Municipal Employees’ Division President

Thomas Murtagh

Vice-President

Shay Kavanagh

Executive Members

Michael Clarke, James Cole, Lorcan Connolly, Michael Duffy, John Gaynor, Michael Gibson, David Greene, Damien Guilfoyle, Thomas Kavanagh, Francis McLoughlin, Michael McLoughlin, Derek Martin, Patrick Morris, Declan O’Brien, Michael Ross, Edward Smith, Michael Tomney, Mark Wynne.

Services and Enterprises Division Chairperson

Paddy Quinn

Vice-Chairperson

Tony Dawson

Executive Members

Joe Bonner, Grace Conlon, Sarah Cowper, Edel Crummey, Evan Cullen, Pierce Dillon, Brian Furey, Ken Hamilton, David Orford, Paul O’Shea, Steven Pilgrim, Helen Sheridan, John P. Sullivan.

63

Appendix five IMPACT staffing and remuneration Staff changes Siobhan Curran, Una Faulkner, Linda Kelly, Joan McCrohan, Deirdre O’Connell and Eimear Ryan were appointed as organisers in 2012. Joan McCrohan and Patricia Whelan had previously worked on a pilot scheme. Siobhan Curran returned to the HSE in early 2014 and a competition was held to fill the vacancy. Madge Daly was appointed as a parttime support to the Cabin Crew branch in December 2013.

General assistant Frank O’Donnell retired in 2013. Personal assistant Carol Timmons also retired in 2013. Brenda Mulhall was appointed to a permanent personal assistant position in 2014 having worked via an agency since 2012.

Staff travel and subsistence is paid in accordance with current civil service regulations. The relevant travel and subsistence rates are set out in appendix one of this report and the total expenditure on staff travel and subsistence is set out in appendix seven.

Staff membership of external boards Under guidelines agreed by the Central Executive in 2010, staff and IMPACT members are eligible for appointment to state and other boards, but all significant appointments and renewal of appointments must be approved by the executive and reported to members in biennial reports.

Appointments of a personal, local or industrial nature, which are made through the relevant union structures, must be approved by the union’s general secretary. CEC approval for the appointment or renewal of the general secretary’s appointment to external boards is required in all circumstances and this is expressly provided for in the general secretary’s contract of employment. The CEC has an unqualified right to require a member of staff to withdraw from a board.

The union now has eight staff working in membership support and organising. They are paid at local authority grade V level. A total of four organiser posts are assigned to organise in schools. An additional two organiser posts are co-funded with the Boards and Voluntary Agencies and Dublin Care Services branches. Two membership support officers are working on membership initiatives.

Staff pay and conditions The pay and conditions of IMPACT staff has traditionally been related to local government grades. Administrative staff conditions are related to local government clerical and administrative grades III to VII. Industrial staff are related to the following grades: General secretary (Cork county manager); deputy general secretary (county manager, bottom grade); national secretaries (assistant county manager, lowest scale). Assistant general secretaries are paid the same as county secretaries. The pay scales are available on the IMPACT website.

Director’s fees are paid in the case of some, but not all, public bodies. The IMPACT guidelines require that any fees paid to IMPACT officials should be assigned to IMPACT. As fees are taxed as remuneration it is not possible to pass on the full value of fees and only the net amount must be assigned to the union. The following staff members were members of external boards in the period covered by this report: Christina Carney is chairperson of the HSE Type C Committee.

Although IMPACT staff are not covered by the legislation that introduced public service pay cuts, senior officials opted to take a voluntary pay cut to reflect those imposed on their related public service grades. All officials and administrative staff appointed or promoted since January 2010 have been placed on amended pay scales that reflect the reductions imposed in the public service. Following the ratification of the Haddington Road Agreement the IMPACT general secretary opted to have the reduced rate applied. He has continued to waive an additional portion of his salary since his appointment.

Shay Cody is a member of the National Competitiveness Council and the National Economic and Social Council. He was chairperson of the Aer Lingus ESOT until it was wound up in early 2014.

Ashley Connolly is a member of the Fingal County Council Audit Committee.

Paddy Keating is a member of the board of the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority.

Peter Nolan is a member of the board of the Institute of Public Administration.

The IMPACT staff pension scheme is a contributory funded scheme and staff pay a contribution of 9.5% of pensionable salary. Like most other private funded schemes, the IMPACT scheme was in deficit. The scheme trustees made a successful application to the Pensions Board for approval for a plan to eliminate the deficit. This precludes pensionable salary increases (other than increments) and pension increases to 2023. Otherwise, the scheme benefits aspire to match the main, but not all, provisions of the public service pension schemes, although benefits are not guaranteed.

The Central Executive agreed to provide a career average scheme for new staff in line with the new public service scheme.

Dessie Robinson was on the board of the Health and Safety Authority until the end of 2013. He is a Congress-nominated member of the Ballyfermot Partnership Board.

Denis Rohan is a member of the board of the Congresssponsored Unemployed Centre in Athlone.

64

Staff General Secretary

Shay Cody

Deputy General Secretary

Kevin Callinan

National Secretaries

Eamonn Donnelly (civil service), Bernard Harbor (communications), Paddy Keating (general manager), Peter Nolan (local government and municipal employees), Louise O’Donnell (health and welfare), Matt Staunton (services and enterprises)

Assistant General Secretaries

Pat Bolger, Christina Carney, Richy Carrothers, Shay Clinton, Ashley Connolly, Christine Cully, Gerry Dolan, Johnny Fox, Brian Gorman, Stella Griffin, Tom Hoare, Hilary Kelleher, Catherine Keogh, Angela Kirk, Michael Landers, Marie Levis, Stephen Lyons, Phil McFadden, Brendan McKay, Philip Mullen, Padraig Mulligan, Geraldine O’Brien, Stephen O’Neill, Andy Pike, Dessie Robinson, Denis Rohan, Ray Ryan, Robbie Ryan

Industrial Relations Officer

Sophia O’Reilly

Communications Unit Communications Officer

Niall Shanahan

Administrative

Roisin Nolan, Martina O’Leary (part time), Patricia O’Mahony (part time)

Organisers

Una Faulkneer, Linda Kelly, Joan McGrohan, Deirdre O’Connell, Eimear Ryan

Personal Assistant to the General Secretary

Teresa Griffin

Executive Assistant

Valerie West

Membership Support Executives

Bernie Aston, Julie Healy

Senior Personal Assistants

Linda Casey (local government), Elaine Elliott (education and services and enterprises), Carol Foster (civil service acting), Mary O’Neill (civil service-career break), Jacinta O’Sullivan

Personal Assistants

Elizabeth Breen (career break), Judith Coffey, Sarah Creane, Noeline Deegan, Margaret Gorman, Eileen Grehan (part time), Jennifer Flaherty, Ailish Kearney (part time), Joan Keppel, Joan King, Rita Lidierth, Jennifer McKenna (part time), John Meehan, Brenda Mulhall, Carol Nevin (part time), Deirdre O’Brien, Anna O’Donoghue, Maureen Rooke (part time), Brid Ruddle, Jackie Spoonley, Jojo Taaffe (part time), Susan Tobin

Receptionists/Telephonists

Margaret Jackson, Ann Tiernan (part time)

Accounts Finance Officer

Anna Leonard

Senior Accounts Officer

Silvana del Valle Cardozo (career break)

Accounts Administrative Officer

Aideen Sharry (job sharing)

Accounts Officers

Mohamad Abdillahi Abdi, Margaret Butler, Mairead Hanratty

Membership Officer

Siobhan Maguire

Post Room

Brid Nic Aodha Bhui

Service Assistants

Maureen Crosbie, Svetlana Smytkov

65

Appendix six ICTU committees and affiliations ICTU Executive Council

Kevin Callinan, Shay Cody, Louise O’Donnell.

ICTU General Purposes Committee

Shay Cody.

ICTU Public Services Committee

Kevin Callinan, Shay Cody (Chair), Eamon Donnelly, Bernard Harbor, Peter Nolan, Louise O’Donnell, Matt Staunton.

ICTU Global Solidarity Committee

Siobhan Curran, Bernard Harbor, Philip O’Connor.

ICTU Youth Committee

Una Faulkner, Linda Kelly.

ICTU Retired Workers Committee

Brian Burke, Brid Clarke, Michael Duffy, Jim Nealon, Gerry Walsh.

ICTU Liaison Group on Disability

Siobhan Curran, Pat Fallon, Joan McCrohan, Gerard Monaghan.

ICTU Women’s Committee

Margaret Coughlan, Tara Robertson.

ICTU Equality Network

Paddy Keating.

ICTU Health, Safety and Welfare Committee

Bobby Carty, Dessie Robinson.

ICTU Communications Strategy Team

Bernard Harbor, Niall Shanahan.

North-South Group

Shay Cody.

Private Sector Industrial Committee

Shay Cody, Matt Staunton.

Social Employment Scheme Monitoring Committee

Geraldine O’Brien.

European Affiliations European Federation of Public Service Unions

Kevin Callinan (executive committee), Louise O’Donnell (health committee), Peter Nolan (local and regional government committee), Eamonn Donnelly (committee on national and European administration).

Eurocadres

Peter Nolan (Executive Committee).

Institute of International and European Affairs

Shay Cody, Bernard Harbor, Kevin Callinan.

Affiliations to other bodies Amnesty International, Dublin Council of Trade Unions, European Transport Workers’ Federation, Foundation for Fiscal Studies, Institute of Public Administration, International Transport Workers’ Federation, Irish Labour History Society, Irish Senior Citizens Parliament, Justice for Colombia (Ireland), National Irish Safety Organisation, National Women’s Council of Ireland, People’s College, Public Services International, Retirement Planning Council.

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Appendix seven Summary of accounts General Fund expenditure analysis

General Fund 2013

2012

2011

€

€

€

12,599,790

12,490,371

12,486,241

381,508

381,178

299,792

1,160

1,041

706

12,982,458

12,872,590

12,786,739

(11,443,799)

(10,762,181)

(10,083,667)

Income Subscription income Investment income Loan interest receivable Total income Expenditure Administration, establishment and general expense Other finance income/(costs)

194,000

188,000

118,000

0

(300,000)

305,000

1,732,659

1,998,409

3,126,072

(156,617)

(132,810)

(82,298)

1,576,042

1,865,599

3,043,774

1,576,042

1,865,599

3,043,774

184,073

0

- Defined benefit pension scheme

5,432,000

(4,364,000)

(922,000)

- Provision for ex-gratia pensions

(18,861)

(30,388)

(4,468)

7,173,254

(2,528,789)

2,117,306

11,718,809

14,247,598

12,130,292

7,173,254

(2,528,789)

2,117,306

18,892,063

11,718,809

14,247,598

Decrease/(increase) in provision for legal assistance Surplus for year before tax Tax Surplus for year after tax Statement of total recognised gains and losses Surplus for year after tax Write back of provision for ex-gratia pension payments Net actuarial gain/(loss):

Total recognised gains and losses Movement in the General Fund for the year Original surplus brought forward Total recognised gains and losses Surplus at end of year For the year ended 31 December

67

Developing World Fund 2013

2012

2011

€

€

€

461,045

487,954

490,333

47

275

2

461,092

488,229

490,335

(619,642)

(465,643)

(443,381)

(158,550)

22,586

46,954

(15)

(1)

0

Surplus for year after tax

(158,565)

22,585

46,954

Surplus at beginning of year

226,854

204,269

157,315

Surplus at end of year

68,289

226,854

204,269

2013

2012

2011

€

€

€

755,748

1,158,516

1,634,442

Income Subscription income Deposit interest Total income Expenditure Projects Surplus for year before tax Tax

For the year ended 31 December

Dispute Fund Income Subscription income Investment income - interest on deposits, government stocks and dividends - Profit/(loss) on disposal of investments - Rent receivable

796,359

752,245

718,109

(4,214)

(122,878)

706,209

78,202

99,702

99,702

1,626,095

1,887,585

3,158,462

0

(1,067,817)

0

(1,412)

(3,112)

(211,787)

Commission on purchase of investments

(13,027)

(1,180)

(6,411)

Investment consultancy fees

(24,600)

(24,600)

(24,200)

Total income Expenditure Impairment of Irish equities Strike pay, legal and other dispute fund costs

Depreciation

(316,920)

(267,959)

(253,684)

(355,959)

(1,364,668)

(496,082)

Surplus for year before tax

1,270,136

522,917

2,662,380

Tax

(244,485)

(168,929)

(175,728)

Surplus for year after tax

1,025,651

353,988

2,486,652

Surplus at beginning of year

31,348,735

30,994,747

28,508,095

32,374,386

31,348,735

30,994,747

Total expenditure

Surplus at end of year For the year ended 31 December

68

Balance Sheet as at 31 December

Tangible fixed assets Investments Subtotal

2013

2012

2011

€

€

€

12,554,974

10,365,241

9,964,560

11,592,514

9,157,519

10,388,907

24,147,488

19,522,760

20,353,467

Current Assets Debtors and prepayments

2,748,019

3,408,453

2,724,131

Cash on deposit and at bank

25,570,552

27,449,473

25,718,831

Subtotal

28,318,571

30,857,926

28,442,962

(1,143,321)

(828,601)

(862,822)

27,175,250

30,029,325

27,580,140

51,322,738

49,552,085

47,933,607

312,000

-

(300,000)

(6,257,687)

(2,486,993)

51,334,738

43,294,398

45,446,614

-General fund

18,892,063

11,718,809

14,247,598

-Dispute fund

32,374,386

31,348,735

30,994,747

Creditors (amounts falling due within one year) Net current assets Total assets less current liabilities Excess of pension assets over liabilities Provision for liabilities and charges Net assets Represented by

-Developing world fund Total

69

68,289

226,854

204,269

51,334,738

43,294,398

45,446,614

General fund expenditure analysis 2013

2012

2011

€

€

€

262,195

247,233

257,675

89,813

90,278

71,794

Building Rent, rates and insurance Light and heat Security

58,680

61,947

52,664

Canteen and cleaning

102,096

113,070

100,792

Subtotal

512,784

512,528

482,925

Maintenance

76,901

75,550

86,374

Repairs and renewals

49,564

13,291

54,099

220,979

237,376

122,912

82,779

42,505

78,282

Equipment

Information technology development Membership system maintenance Depreciation Subtotal

98,739

135,617

148,627

528,962

504,339

490,294

6,321,997

6,138,921

6,065,491

Staff Wages and salaries Pension administration and actuarial fees Defined benefit pension scheme Income continuance and insured pension cost Recruitment expenses Staff travel and subsistence Staff training Other employment costs

121,725

59,313

66,028

1,035,748

753,000

808,000

242,000

198,000

197,627

7,721,470

7,149,234

7,137,146

0

7,249

8,462

347,556

310,170

312,283

28,783

22,048

29,902

41,416

23,063

20,999

8,139,225

7,511,764

7,508,792

Printing and stationery

74,341

78,404

81,284

Telephone and mobile

101,256

117,310

97,823

53,451

50,944

31,247

229,048

246,658

210,354

258,866

246,614

281,096

3,708

3,024

6,768

Divisional meetings

122,812

126,990

88,404

Union/divisional conferences

149,994

66,754

110,313

ICTU meetings/conferences

28,875

13,022

34,718

Other meetings/conferences

63,217

50,095

59,838

6,458

3,616

325

0

0

3,922

633,930

510,115

585,384

Subtotal Communications

Post and delivery Subtotal Meetings and conferences Affiliation fees Vocational groups

International meetings/conferences Recruitment and organisation Subtotal

70

Promotion Miscellaneous public relations

25,296

22,882

20,611

Workplace promotional items

40,904

27,545

36,474

Communication printing

81,861

36,220

82,240

Donations

8,000

8,000

8,100

50,000

51,000

50,000

12,861

11,546

12,906

178,759

140,320

234,698

27,642

29,755

25,839

CEC approved projects

85,711

178,903

12,268

Media monitoring

8,876

8,945

5,400

50,000

50,000

50,000

569,910

565,116

538,536

7,900

6,700

7,000

Scholarships

18,475

18,656

21,850

Refund of subscriptions

26,552

9,254

10,207

DAS Helpline

109,114

122,489

0

463,096

500,000

0

200

0

4,247

Community development grants Annual report 'Work & Life' publication Books and journals

The Nevin Economic Research Institute Subtotal Membership services Benevolent grants

Critical illness life cover Membership cards and badges Membership database data entry Subtotal

67,095

66,514

67,598

692,432

723,613

110,902

4,857

16,558

0

Strategic organising and union development Membership recruitment, retention and support Strategic Organising Representatives training Campaigning and profile building

538

5,043

0

35,560

57,317

37,895

10,638

6,620

0

51,593

85,538

37,895

Legal fees

42,660

35,112

70,934

Audit, accountancy and taxation fees

32,100

32,520

30,167

1,022

23,865

(187)

Subtotal Fees

Consultancy and professional fees Bank charges Subtotal Total

71

10,133

11,013

17,671

85,915

102,510

118,585

11,443,799

10,762,181

10,083,667

Produced by IMPACT Communications Unit, Nerney’s Court, Dublin 1. info@impact.ie Designed by Language, www.language.ie Photo credits Page 3-4

Conor Healy

Page 6 and 8

Photocall Ireland courtesy ICTU

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Dylan Vaughan

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Dylan Vaughan

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Dan Linehan

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Conor Healy

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Dominic Walsh

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