Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 2 February 2022
Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach
Estimates for Public Services
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised)
Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source
The Minister has overall responsibility for the Department. Under the Public Service Management Act 1997, the division of responsibilities is clear. The Secretary General has responsibility for the day-to-day management of the Department but, essentially, takes policy direction from the Minister. The Minister sits at the top of the Department in the sense of setting policy. The Secretary General, in essence, is responsible for executing and implementing that policy in line with the functions that are laid out under the 1997 Act. That is the hierarchy. The question of dismissing a Secretary General is one for the Government as a collective. At the moment, under the Civil Service Regulation Acts we have a system whereby for grades up to but not including principal officer level, disciplinary action is a matter for the Secretary General. For an assistant secretary or a Secretary General, it goes to the Minister and, ultimately, in the case of a Secretary General, to the Government.
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