NORTHERN IRELAND
A Freedom of Information request has revealed the Northern Ireland Public Service has spent nearly £30 million ($A55.6 million) over two years by drafting in temporary staff to plug the gaps it created after axing 3,000 full-time jobs.
The Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance (NIPSA) said the issue of agency workers was “a blight on our public services”.
It said a lack of proper workforce planning meant that thousands of public sector staff were denied job security and could “be let go at the drop of a hat”.
However, the Department of Finance defended the employment of so many temporary workers saying the expenditure represented 1.3 per cent of the total Public Service salary bill.
“The use of agency staff is a legitimate and necessary way to manage some aspects of temporary work and meet particular business needs,” the Department said in a statement.
“This is normal practice in any modern large organisation providing a range of services to the public.”
Asked if Public Servants who had taken voluntary redundancy had subsequently come back as agency workers, the Department of Finance said: “Agency staff are not employees of the Northern Ireland Civil Service.
“It is for the relevant agency to provide the best people for the jobs.”
Leader of the Traditional Unionist Voice Party, Jim Allister (pictured) said clear answers were needed.
“To me the most shocking aspect of this matter is not just that the Executive spent £90 million ($A166.8 million) on financial handshakes under the voluntary exit scheme, but then the Civil Service will not say how many of those who left came back as agency workers at further huge cost,” Mr Allister said.
“Where was the financial sense in compensating people to leave and then taking them back as agency workers? The extent and cost of agency workers since suggests to me that much of the voluntary exit scheme was ill-conceived and an expensive exercise.”
Belfast, 19 February, 2019
