Mr. John Kinnane:

The key point is that this report is not viewed in isolation. It is one of a number of reforms that have been implemented with a view to driving the focus on performance, outputs and the effectiveness within which public services are being delivered. The Deputy asked what type of civil servants are being recruited. Over the last number of years a number of staff were recruited to the Irish Government Economics and Evaluation Service, IGEES, to assist in embedding an evaluation culture in Departments in order that we can constantly assess what is being delivered and whether it is effective and having an impact. This performance report, grade F or not, is part of the effort to ensure that the focus is not only on the amount of money that is being spent but on whether it is delivering and having an impact for citizens. This report is a snapshot of the process. The spending review examines that process in more detail with a view to looking at all spending across a three year period. This is a rolling cycle and such it is embedded within the budget process. Likewise, all Departments are involved in this process; it is not just the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform doing the analysis. All Departments are involved in finding and analysing the data in terms of the effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery.

It is clear from members contributions that they believe this is a start. From our point of view, it is a good start. We will develop this further as we gather more trend information and on the basis of feedback which we receive from Oireachtas committees and other stakeholders on how it can be improved, including on whether there are other indicators that should be measured and reported on by Departments. This is about trying to ensure that the culture of evaluating the effectiveness and impact of public expenditure is embedded across all Departments.