New director of Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion is Radek Jiránek

The new director of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion is Radek Jiránek, who until now has been the head of the Crime Prevention Department at the Czech Interior Ministry. Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier (ČSSD) announced the appointment today at a press conference.  

Jiránek will replace Martin Šimáček, who has been dismissed. The new director’s first task will be to calm the situation in the confused institution.

"I anticipate that Mr Jiránek will contribute to stabilizing the personnel of the Agency," Dienstbier said. Jiránek applied for the post in 2009 but came in second after Šimáček and ahead of Jozef Baláž.  

"I have long been involved in social inclusion. I take this new job as a new challenge – we will be involved with more than just security in socially excluded localities, we will also be involved in how to offer local people work," Jiránek said at the press conference.  

"Don’t expect any breakthrough moves from me," he added. The Agency is a department of the Office of the Government that is part of the Human Rights Minister’s agenda.

A disagreement over the form and function of the Agency has been dragging on between Dienstbier and the staff for six weeks now. That dispute broke out after the previous director was dismissed.

The sticking points concern the use of EU money, how its effectiveness will be monitored with respect to Romani integration, and the planned reorganization of the Agency. Fourteen of its 70 staffers have already given notice.  

Seven people applied for the post of director. A three-member hiring committee was responsible for choosing the most appropriate candidates.

Agency staffers wanted to have their own representative on the committee but did not succeed. The new director will start work in June.

Jiránek now has to meet with Czech PM Bohuslav Sobotka (ČSSD), with Dienstbier, and with the Agency staff about their future work. The institution currently works with 36 municipalities throughout the country.  

That number is slated to rise to 70 in the future. As many as 10 billion Czech crowns from the EU could be spent on social inclusion over the years to come.