Registered Employment Agreement (Veterinary Ireland) Order 2019

JurisdictionIreland
CitationIR SI 662/2019

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 31st December, 2019.

Whereas I, PAT BREEN, Minister of State at the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by subsection (5A) (inserted by section 5 (d) of the Industrial Relations (Amendment)Act 2012 (No. 32 of 2012)) of section 27 of the Industrial Relations Act 1946 (No. 26 of 1946), being satisfied that subsections (1) to (5) of the said section 27 have been complied with and considering it appropriate to do so, hereby make the following order:

1. This Order may be cited as the Registered Employment Agreement (Veterinary Ireland) Order 2019.

2. The terms of the employment agreement registered by the Labour Court on 23 April 2019 and set out in the Schedule are hereby confirmed.

SCHEDULE

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

Collective Agreement

between the

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

and

Veterinary Ireland

13 January 2019

The following is a Collective Agreement between the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Veterinary Ireland, sole representative body of Temporary Veterinary Inspectors (TVIs) engaged by the Department to provide meat inspection services, and to whom this Agreement applies.

This Agreement is entered into without prejudice to the parties’ respective positions as regards their employment status (and any legal claims extant or arising in this regard) and is submitted for registration to the Labour Court.

Given the specific legal, public policy and regulatory requirements that pertain to the meat inspection service, and the complexity and litigation history and unique circumstances of the arrangement for the delivery of these services, it is considered appropriate by the parties to register the Agreement with the Labour Court as a singular and unique measure, to ensure adherence to the Agreement by both parties and to engender confidence in maintaining a sustainable agreement to support future operations.

In registering this agreement with the Labour Court, Veterinary Ireland acknowledges that the meat inspection service should be provided in a manner that is cost neutral to the taxpayer (relative to the current baseline cost of the overall service, but taking account of improvements required for effective delivery). The Department acknowledges the entitlement of TVIs to engage in private practice.

Conditions of Engagement

Section 1:

Background:

These Conditions of Engagement have been developed and agreed between the above Parties to describe the arrangements regarding the engagement by the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine (DAFM) of private veterinary practitioners to support DAFM Veterinary Inspectors in the carrying out of ante-mortem and post-mortem examinations of animals slaughtered in DAFM approved slaughter plants. It is effective from 01/02/2019 and replaces all and any other previous such documents and arrangements.

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

The following terms are applicable to all existing and future TVIs from 01/02/2019:

1. The functions of Temporary Veterinary Inspectors (TVIs) are to assist the DAFM veterinary staff at meat plants. TVIs will be assigned to and perform the functions of ante-mortem inspection, post-mortem inspection, and tasks ancillary to those inspections at the direction of the official veterinary inspector. The TVI will undertake the specific duties assigned to him/her, acknowledging that these may vary from time to time.

2. A panel based system for engaging TVIs at approved DAFM meat plants will be retained.

3. DAFM’s Veterinary Inspector-in-Charge (VI) at each meat plant will roster TVI panellists at the meat plant as and when required, based on slaughter operations.

4. TVIs will be allocated work on the basis of order on the panel, availability and suitability. If not available, the shift will be offered to the next TVI on the panel.

5. DAFM reserves the right on exceptional occasions to re-allocate shifts for specific operational reasons.

6. TVIs shall be listed on one panel only, and shall not be engaged by DAFM for the provision of a meat inspection service for more than one shift in any given slaughter day, except in the case of urgent requirement as determined by the Veterinary Inspector at the meat plant.

7. TVIs shall co-operate fully with all requirements of DAFM in regard to attendance and punctuality (both of which are essential to facilitate plant operations, ensure safety of food and underpin veterinary certification), conduct, reporting, record keeping, inspection/sampling protocols as relevant, attendance at relevant seminars or information meetings, additional training including online training, the introduction and utilisation of new technology and new processes, compliance with new legislative requirements as they are enacted, and adherence to health and safety requirements as advised to them by DAFM and the food business operator (FBO) in respect of the site they are working in.

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

8. Notwithstanding the above, DAFM shall be entitled to apply appropriate procedures to deal with performance of TVIs and complaints/appeals by TVIs. (Appropriate processes to manage this will be set out in the SOPs – Appendix 1.)

9. In order to be engaged by DAFM for the provision of a meat inspection service, TVIs must be and remain registered on the Register of Veterinary Practitioners for Ireland. Temporary removal from the Register will not lead to removal from the panel or adversely affect their position on the panel. TVIs will not be engaged for the period of non-registration.

10. An assessment of medical fitness to perform the duties will apply, as necessary.

11. The performance of TVIs in terms of how they carry out the Official Controls allocated to them by the Official Veterinarian will be assessed by DAFM as the Competent Authority and as required by the ‘Hygiene Package’ and incoming under Regulation 2017/625 as appropriate, relevant Implementing and Delegated Acts, and any required corrective action will be undertaken by the TVI.

12. Matters pertaining to any DAFM/FBO business carried out on site must remain confidential.

13. All those who take up a position on a TVI panel agree and accept that DAFM will process their personal information in order to administer payments, in the formation and display of panels, and all other aspects of their engagement on these Conditions of Engagement. The attention of all panellists and applicants is drawn to the rights of data subjects under the General Data Protection Regulations.

14. These Conditions of Engagement are effective from 1 February 2019, and replace all previously existing documents in relation to the conditions of engagement of TVIs and the operation of TVI panels. The associated Standard Operating Procedures (at Appendix 1) will be subject to annual review (or as required, if necessitated by regulatory or other factors) in consultation with Veterinary Ireland, and under the terms of this agreement. Where there are any amendments to these arrangements, they shall be included in Appendix 1 and the updated documents will be forwarded to the Labour Court as part of this agreement.

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

Section 2:

The following arrangements are agreed for the engagement of Temporary Veterinary Inspectors for meat inspection services.

Tenure and Engagement:

1. The Department will revise the Conditions of Engagement and re-open TVI panels on a ‘need-per-panel’ basis. The Department will advertise for the position of TVIs on panels where there are deemed to be vacancies on such panels. Where there is an over-subscribed application for such panels a lottery system for selection for appointment shall apply. This will be overseen by a representative of both parties.

2. A TVI will be on one panel only, and in the ordinary course of events, TVIs will not be engaged for more than 1 shift per slaughter day.

3. TVIs currently on more than one meat plant panel will be given the opportunity to choose which one of those existing panels they wish to remain on. The TVI’s order on the panel on which they choose to remain will not be adversely affected.

4. The Department agrees that re-opened panels will be sufficiently populated to ensure that, in general, no TVI will be asked to undertake a double shift (except in the case of urgent requirement as determined by the Veterinary Inspector at the meat plant.) No panel will be so over-populated that TVIs would not have a reasonable expectation of engagement. There will be a requirement to ensure that the panels have sufficient capacity to ensure that there is no disruption to the meat inspection service at seasonal and peak times

5. The Department and Veterinary Ireland agree that the Conditions of Engagement document records the overarching relationship between the Department and TVIs, and that it will be supported by such Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs – Appendix 1) as are required to document the processes to be followed in the fulfilment of that relationship.

6. An upper age limit of engagement to age 70 shall apply for TVI work for new entrants to the panels.

7. The Department and Veterinary Ireland agree to submit the Conditions of Engagement document to the Labour Court as an assurance that this is the mechanism by which it intends to continue to engage TVIs for the purposes outlined above.

TVI fee

The Department and Veterinary Ireland agree that the hourly fee payable for meat inspection services shall equate to the divisor 1/780th of the first point of the non-PPC Veterinary Inspector scale and will be revised in line with any changes to the VI scale. The hourly fee is so set to take account of the fact that TVIs are paid on a fee basis for hours worked, and that this rate of payment comprehends the fact that the Department is not liable for any form of paid absence, and that all other...

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