Revenue management has agreed to ‘relaunch’ its employee engagement charter, which was originally published in 2017. The pledge came in a recent meeting between Fórsa officials and the board of the Revenue Commissioners, which discussed Realignment, Brexit and other matters.

Niall Cody, Chairman of the Revenue Commissioners, agreed that employee engagement was important and said all levels of management – including Fórsa grades – should be guided by the charter and Revenue’s employee engagement action plan.

The union also raised continuing preparations for Brexit. Some 400 staff have been appointed to Brexit-related roles, and an additional 200 are undergoing training. Management outlined its contingency arrangements for a ‘no-deal’ scenario. Fórsa again raised their concerns around the proposed move from allowanced posts to 24-7 shift premium for staff in ports and airports.

It was agreed that a union-board level meeting should take place at least once a year in future.

Meanwhile, industrial relations fora for the new Revenue divisional structure are getting underway, and meetings have taken place in customs, personnel, business, and elsewhere. Additional fora are being put in place for the large cases divisions - large corporates and high wealth individuals.

Local partnership meetings for these divisions have also begun work, with Fórsa encouraging staff to apply for partnership rep positions when opportunities arise.

Fórsa has also called for COs to replace EOs on phone rosters. Management said that it started to recruit at CO level in the business division in February, and that this might alleviate the problem. The staff will be in place once training is completed.

Management has also told the union that it’s working on ways to implement merit-based higher scales. Higher scales for executive grades were paused in some areas, but should be restarted everywhere by now.

Building works for staff in Dublin port continue in anticipation of Brexit. Fórsa raised objections to the proposals for enforcement staff on health and safety grounds. Management agreed and changes have been implemented as a result.

Meanwhile, movement of some shift and allowanced staff to Damastown is expected to commence later this month, while a new building at the Opera house site in Limerick is due to affect Revenue staff. The work is expected to take at least six years, and Fórsa is demanding appropriate renovations to the facilities for the staff affected in both Sarsfield and River House. Among other things, there is a requirement to resolve issues like the canteen noise and water damage in Sarsfield House.