Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Latest News

Ireland’s managers warned over lack of efficiency

by Personnel Today 28 May 2004
by Personnel Today 28 May 2004

Ireland’s
senior civil servants and public service managers need to be targeted to get
the fat out of the public sector despite the buoyant growth of the Irish
economy, a former senior Guinness (now Diageo) executive told personnel
managers today.

The
Irish Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD-Ireland) annual
conference was told that there should be no hiding places for under-performing
professional and managerial staff in the Civil Service, local authorities and
health boards.

Organisational
restructuring adviser, Eddie Molloy told the conference that there were still
virtually no consequences for poor performance across the whole public sector
domain. "Accountability in semi-state companies, state bodies and the
Civil Service is still weak,” he said.

He
warned top public sector managers and professionals – such as medical
consultants, engineers, architects and accountants – that they would come under
increasing pressure to justify their positions.

Molloy
said the forthcoming Mullarkey Report on accountability would focus on
measuring the real effectiveness and output of senior public servants who have
avoided facing change.

Participants
at the conference in Galway were told that dramatic changes had been introduced
in mainly US manufacturing and technology firms in Ireland and later in service
companies such as the main banking groups.

Changes
had also been induced in some state-owned organisations which had to face
competition, such as Irish Life Assurance, Bord na Mona (a peat extraction
company) and Aer Lingus.

“University
dons, hospital consultants and others – especially protected private sector or
public sector professionals – are only beginning to even consider the
application of management disciplines to their work,” he said. “The big fat is
higher up in an organisation”.

In
recent years, frontline staff and employees in manufacturing have had to suffer
the brunt of work intensification, and more senior managers and professionals
have protected their positions.

Molloy
highlighted the amateur and transient approach to human relational management
in the public sector, where it is seen as a step on a promotions ladder and not
a specialist skill.

CIPD-Ireland
director Michael McDonnell told the conference that the European Association of
Personnel Management (EAPM) conference will be hold in Dublin in May 2005.

He
said the Irish location had been selected at the prompting of CIPD director
general Geoff Armstrong the incoming president of the World Congress of Human
Resource Management.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

The
theme of the EAPM international conference will be flexibility and
competitiveness in the European workplace of the future.

By Gerald Flynn

Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

previous post
Prison staff go on strike
next post
Paid maternity leave could increase by six months

You may also like

Young people unprepared for world of work, says...

8 Jul 2025

Empower and engage for the future: A revolution...

7 Jul 2025

Bereavement leave to extend to miscarriages before 24...

7 Jul 2025

One in seven ‘revenge quit’ in latest employee...

7 Jul 2025

Skills shortfall in construction threatens housing target

4 Jul 2025

Company director wins £15k after being told to...

4 Jul 2025

MPs demand Home Office tightens visas to protect...

4 Jul 2025

It’s all about the Monet: how art transforms...

3 Jul 2025

Stop chasing quick fixes: return to the office...

3 Jul 2025

Asda hails major upgrade in employees’ benefits

3 Jul 2025

  • Empowering working parents and productivity during the summer holidays SPONSORED | Businesses play a...Read more
  • AI is here. Your workforce should be ready. SPONSORED | From content creation...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+