A collective agreement has been reached with Revenue in relation to an unfolding dispute surrounding open recruitment of HEO tax specialists.

The issue arose when Revenue published an open competition at HEO level for tax specialists at the beginning of October. The union has long been clear in its position that HEO recruitment is an internal promotional path for existing staff. Revenue’s decision to publish the competition was a unilateral move taken without consultation.

Despite immediate engagement from union officials, Revenue would not pause the competition, and as a result Fórsa’s Civil Service Divisional Executive Committee decided to conduct a civil service wide ballot for industrial action on this issue, given the potential far-reaching implications across the civil service as a whole.

Following significant engagement between Fórsa, Revenue and the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform (DPENDPDR) Revenue has now clearly and formally stated that the competition is not an attempt to achieve open HEO recruitment and that any such discussions would be conducted nationally with (DPENDPDR), in the context of the Civil Service Sectoral Action Plan. The union’s position in relation to open recruitment at HEO level, which has been formally stated, remains one of objection and opposition.

Head of the Civil Service division Éamonn Donnelly said: “This is a favourable outcome. We also achieved further internal promotional opportunities by way of an internal tax specialist competition and a commitment to maximize the appointment to promotional posts for people currently sitting on panels.”

Speaking about the issue branch chair Pat Murtagh said: “From the outset the branch and Fórsa have always stated their belief that there were enough officers within the Office of the Revenue Commissioners who were capable of conducting the function that this competition was trying to fill. This week, we again met with Revenue management to try to come to a solution to this issue. These talks were productive. Now, the branch will enter discussions on the proposed competition and other outstanding elements that still need to be resolved. There is still plenty of work to be done but we are now in a much better place that we were a week ago.”

Fórsa assistant general secretary Úna Faulkner said: “We will now be able to work with our Revenue branch to engage directly on the substantive issue of specialist versus generic posts in an orderly and structured industrial relations environment.”

Éamonn concluded “I have no doubt that the decision to conduct a ballot of members on this issue played a key role in significantly altering the position of the employer, which, up to that point, had been set in stone. I wish to thank the DEC for their support, the branch for their tenacity and commend the negotiating team for its resilience, without which, no resolution would have been achieved.”

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