Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr Peter Phillips, says there is no plan for wide-scale redundancies in the public service in 2016/17.

Dr Phillips told the House of Representatives Tuesday, however, that there is a need to reorganise the sector to make it more efficient.

He also reminded the House that the Government will need to repay some $62 billion as the first instalment on maturing bonds issued under the National Debt Exchange, which becomes due on February 10, the day after Nomination Day for the February 25 general election.

“Let me take the opportunity to put to rest, I think, notions that have developed in some sections of public that there is some plans for wide-scale redundancies in the public sector. There is no such plan,” Phillips said as he opened the debate on the Civil Service Establishment (General) Order, 2015, Resolution.

“We obviously have to reorganise our public sector to make it more efficient to deal with levels of pay that attract the best and the brightest in the country at the relevant levels. All of that needs to be done, but as we proceed to that, we are not intending to proceed to that point in a fashion that is either callous, disregarding the sacrifices that have been made by those same workers that have brought us this far, that is intended to in any way impose any hardship,” he stated.

He said that as the economy expands and as jobs and job opportunities expand in other areas of the economy, the Government will be prepared to explore ways in which persons could be reskilled for other jobs.

However, he insisted that where people retire and posts are made vacant in the public sector, the Government could not fill those posts, as part of the general reorganisation and transformation of the workforce.

He noted that 2,564 posts have already been abolished in the public service, and there are plans to abolish other posts as they become vacant.

“We are allowing attrition to lower the size of the civil service where necessary, and we have also signed with the trade unions agreements which provide for the development of voluntary redundancy retirement arrangements. Those arrangements are to be developed in conjunction with the unions and in relation to any public sector transformation measures to be undertaken,” he stated.

“We value the fact that we have full collaboration from the public sector unions in maintaining fidelity to the programme of economic and social reform. We have kept the faith with them also, insofar as we have arrived at a set of settlements for the 2015/17 contract period [which are] higher than we had originally anticipated, much less than had been originally claimed, but one which requires us further to maintain commitments with the workers,” Dr Phillips said.