Dáil debates

Wednesday, 15 October 2008

Financial Resolution No. 15: (General) Resumed

 

11:00 am

Photo of Brian CowenBrian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

We are providing a package of over €515 million to protect pensioners and other social welfare recipients from the effects of inflation. There is a widespread acceptance that expenditure on child benefit does not achieve an appropriate degree of balance. Therefore, it is right to signal the phasing out of child benefit in respect of 18 year olds in full-time education. Young people from families that depend on social welfare are specifically taken into account in the compensatory measures announced by the Minister, however. Similarly, the changes announced in respect of the medical card for people over the age of 70 are not unreasonable. The entire older population, with the exception of 5% of them who have the highest incomes, will continue to have access to a medical card, a doctor-only card or a grant towards GP expenses. Of every 100 older people, 94 will get a medical card, a doctor's card or the €400 grant. The rest of them will not qualify because they have a pension of more than €650 per week. The contributory State pension is €230.30 per week and the non-contributory pension is €219 per week.

The Government will enable progress to be continued in developing all levels of the education system in an appropriate manner. It will increase capitation grants, expenditure on research and development capacity at third level and specific supports for children at school with disabilities. The budget also delivers on our commitment to use fiscal mechanisms to encourage environmental improvement. The credibility and success of the Government's budgetary strategy is increased when the behaviour of people across the economy reflects and reinforces the underlying approach to budgetary choices. The budget is compatible with the social partnership process and the draft agreement. It secures stability in the public finances, defends those who are most vulnerable and distributes the burden of adjustment as fairly as possible. I ask for the support of the social partners in navigating through this difficult time for their members and the rest of the country.

The decisions announced yesterday will have specific implications for the public service. It has been suggested that there has been an unreasonable and excessive explosion in public service numbers, but the facts suggest otherwise. While Ireland compares well to other OECD countries in this regard, present circumstances require that we achieve more for less. We are not interested in merely being in line with OECD averages in terms of staffing levels and performance. We must move from average to best. We must display the highest rates of productivity increase, the strongest indicators of quality outcomes, the smartest application of new technologies and the closest attention to the diverse needs of our citizens. At a time of severe economic and fiscal challenge, the efficiency and effectiveness with which public services are organised and delivered is critically important. The budget reflects the decisions the Government has already taken to focus spending on areas of greatest priority and to reduce sharply activities which are not essential in the present circumstances. We intend to reduce significantly expenditure on consultancies and to curtail severely expenditure on advertising and other support activities. Measures to transform the management of procurement across the public service are also in train and will yield significant savings.

There is clear and overwhelming evidence that our public servants deeply resent the fact that under-performance is tolerated and protected. They are frustrated, as others are, when their practical experience of service delivery is not reflected in the development of policy. There is great talent and an impatience for reform in many quarters of the public service. We need to liberate that talent and fast-track the process of reform. Pressure of resources can contribute to the creative solution to these challenges. The budget provides for a 4% reduction in the public service payroll, relative to 2008. This challenging target will be built on with targets for further efficiency gains over subsequent years. Our public servants are relatively well paid. In return, they must accept the need for openness to change and innovation on a par with the most competitive aspects of the private sector. They must show flexibility and be willing to meet the rigours of performance management and external accountability. In their deployment and activity, they must focus on the service of the citizen, which is what matters the most.

The modernisation of the public service and the drive for greater efficiency and effectiveness were the Government's central requirements during the recent negotiations on a new public service pay agreement. The full and comprehensive delivery of that agenda is central to the policies and priorities of this Administration. The public service and its trade unions recognise that the public deserves and demands nothing less than a full and transparent renewal of the public service, at all levels and in all sectors. In the weeks to come, the Minister for Finance and I will announce specific measures arising from the work of the task force on public sector reform. There will be a rigorous appraisal of staffing levels, underpinned by external expertise, so that public service managers are supported in their efforts to ensure that available resources are appropriately aligned with priority needs. This can be achieved in partnership by applying the terms of the draft agreement that was negotiated recently. In any event, such changes are essential and will be pursued vigorously by the Government. The decision by the members of the Government and the Secretaries General of the various Departments to waive voluntarily 10% of their income was a symbolic move rather than a gimmick.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.