Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I am pleased to be with the committee today to present the 2025 Revised Estimates for my Department's group of Votes. I am joined by the Minister of State with responsibility for public procurement, digitalisation and egovernment, Deputy Higgins. As this is my first time to appear before this committee, I wish to say I look forward to working with all of the members collaboratively and constructively in the period ahead.

There are ten Votes under the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation Vote group. These are: Vote 11 - Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation; Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances, which covers Civil Service pensions; the Votes for a number of offices under the aegis of my Department including Vote 14 - State Laboratory; Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service; Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office; Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman; Vote 15 - Secret Service; Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement; and Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer.

The final Vote in the group relates to the Office of Public Works, OPW, and the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, will present the Revised Estimate for the Vote to the committee at a later date.

On the Votes under the group that are the subject of the meeting, both myself and the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, are happy to address various questions and the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, will address questions relating to the Office of Government Procurement and the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer.

In the overall context, the 2025 total gross estimate for the Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation Vote group, excluding the OPW, is €1.22 billion, an increase of 5% on the 2024 allocation. The overall gross figure for 2025 compares with €1.16 billion in 2024, inclusive of Supplementary Estimates. It is largely driven by an increased Estimate provision to Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances, targeted increases to enable delivery of essential services and additional salary costs associated with the public service pay agreement.

Vote 11, for the Department of public expenditure, aims to drive the delivery of better public services, living standards and infrastructure for the people of Ireland by enhancing governance, building capacity and delivering effectively. For 2025, the gross Estimate is €64.4 million and €61 million in net terms. This is an increase of €5 million over the 2024 allocation after Supplementary Estimates. The additional funding requirement is primarily driven by an increase in the administrative pay subhead to provide for pay agreement increases and the transfer of 28 corporate and HR staff from the OGP and OGCIO as part of an internal transformation programme.

Vote 12 provides for superannuation and pension and retirement lump sum costs for civil servants, including prison officers, and pension payments for dependents. Year-to-year variation in expenditure on this Vote is primarily driven by the number of individuals who will opt to retire before reaching their compulsory retirement age, and whose years of service and grade or pay level are variable and uncertain. The gross Estimate of €933.4 million I am outlining today represents an increase of €41.7 million, or 5%, on the 2024 gross Estimate. This increase reflects the higher number of pensioners on the fortnightly pension payroll.

Other bodies under the aegis of the Department, such as the Public Appointments Service, the National Shared Services Office and the State Laboratory, provide important services to large numbers of clients across the Civil Service and public service.

In regard to Vote 14, the State Laboratory provides a high quality, innovative and responsive chemical analysis and advisory service to Government Departments and offices. The 2025 Estimate will provide €15.5 million in gross funding and €13.8 million in net terms. This allocation will facilitate the State Laboratory to respond to evolving requirements from clients.

Regarding Vote 17, the Public Appointments Service is the key provider of recruitment and selection services across the civil and wider public service. The 2025 Estimate proposes funding of €25.2 million in gross terms and €25 million in net terms for the Vote. This will allow the Public Appointments Service to continue to source the highest quality candidates for positions in the civil and public service across over 600 recruitment campaigns and to manage the attraction and assessment of candidates for appointment to State boards. A key aim of Public Appointments Service will be to focus on attracting and retaining a diversity of people to the public service through delivering its equality, diversity and inclusion strategy and supporting initiatives.

In regard to Vote 18, the National Shared Services Office delivers HR, payroll, pensions and financial management services to clients across the civil and public service.

The 2025 Estimate for the NSSO is €82.2 million in gross terms and €75.3 million net. This funding will enable the continued provision of services. Part of the focus for 2025 is to deliver greater efficiency and integration of services through a number of transformation projects.

The funding provided through Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman, provides for a number of different bodies including the Office of the Ombudsman, the Office of the Commission for Public Service Appointments, the Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner, the Standards in Public Office Commission, the Office of the Information Commissioner and the Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information. The 2025 Estimate proposes an allocation of just under €17.5 million in gross terms and some €17 million in net terms across its programmes. This will provide an increase of 17% over the 2024 allocation and responds to a significant uplift in demand for the services provided by the office.

I will hand over now to the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, who will deal with the Office of Government Procurement and the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer.