Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

The Secretary General in my Department made a speech about that over the weekend. He put forward the circumstances and the case as to how it could be done on the basis of public service reform. I had a chance to read half of his speech. As far as bringing in expertise from the private sector is concerned, he made the point that while it has been carried out in a limited way for many years and a small number of people have been recruited, it has not been done in any major way. As many recent reports from the Comptroller and Auditor General have revealed, expertise is lacking in many areas of the public service. There have been many arguments about consultants and advisers but he made the case that the public service does not have the expertise. The Secretary General argued that in some cases, there are areas to which outside expertise should perhaps be introduced.

My view is that one could do so and it might be even argued that in certain areas, it might be cheaper than hiring outside companies. However, I do not believe that top class experts in some areas could be secured cheaply. There are always arguments about benchmarking between the public and private sectors, when one considers the various grades. However, one should examine the salaries of financial specialists working in Dublin and compare their earnings to the salary of an Accounting Officer. Deputy Rabbitte is aware that people working in the top stock market houses or who manage funds in the IFSC earn salaries that seem extraordinary to the Deputy, to myself or to anyone else in this House. I am well remunerated for my job, but none of these people would do my job for the salary I receive and the best of luck to them.

Therefore, I do not believe it would be easy to recruit top class experts. One could recruit people into the middle ranks, but it would not be easy. How would ten high level people arriving with enormously large salaries fit in with others in the public service? Nevertheless, an argument exists and it is an argument against the costs of consultants. Public servants feel aggrieved from time to time, much as they admire the expertise of consultants, when they see the rates being charged, possibly not to the individuals but to the companies. This area also requires some examination. The Secretary General of my Department, who has been an eminent public servant for many decades, has made the point that there are arguments to be considered as part of strategic management and public performance management. I do not discount his view that there are areas which should be examined. He has not come to this view recently but has been articulating it for the last decade or more.

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