Jimmy Devins (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputies for their contributions to the debate and acknowledge the cross-party support given to the Bill. All Deputies would agree that the Ombudsman has made an important contribution over the past 25 years in terms of promoting high standards of public administration. This Bill will enhance that contribution. It comprises a progressive series of measures which complement the recent announcements made by the Government on broader public sector modernisation and reform.

The Bill is being introduced at a time when we are facing a number of significant challenges. We are currently experiencing such severe economic and fiscal challenges that it is critical our public services are organised and delivered in as efficient and effective a manner as possible. The economic environment has deteriorated sharply and the turnaround is occurring with unprecedented speed and severity. Our focus must be on positioning the economy to take advantage of the upturn in the global economy when it eventually emerges. In other words, enhanced competitiveness in all sectors of the economy, including greater efficiency in the public sector, is imperative in returning to more normal rates of growth once the current difficulties recede. It is appropriate that our public service is subject to scrutiny if we are to ensure that it continues to contribute to national development, provides excellent services to the public and makes effective use of resources. This is even more critical in view of current economic circumstances.

Significant progress has been made in reforming and modernising the public service since the strategic management initiative was launched some 14 years ago. During that time, our public services have undergone a major transformation and substantial improvements have been made in many areas, such as the delivery of quality customer services, regulatory reform, financial management and human resource management. However, if are to continue to remain competitive and support the growth of the broader economy, then we must ensure that our commitment to reform is ongoing. The programme of public service modernisation must be constantly updated.

The current partnership agreement, Towards 2016, builds on the progress made under previous agreements and ensures continued co-operation with change and modernisation initiatives, as well as improvements in productivity right across the public service. It provides an important framework for meeting the economic and social challenges ahead and, critically, sets out a mechanism for the verification of progress in the public service through the performance verification groups for each of the sectors. The recent review and transitional agreement under Towards 2016 recognises that the public service must review continuously its systems, processes and procedures to ensure that it is responsive and efficient and that it provides high quality, value for money services.

The OECD review of the Irish public service acknowledged the central role played by the public service in our national development by ensuring the right economic, regulatory, educational and social conditions are in place. At the same time, however, it stated there is a need for a more integrated public service with a greater performance focus. It also acknowledged that in a tighter fiscal environment there is a need to prioritise spending within budget frameworks.

The House is of course aware of the range of other recent initiatives which have been focused on ensuring public bodies deliver the highest standards to citizens and that the public sector is positioned to respond effectively to the challenges which we now face. Last Wednesday, the Taoiseach launched the report of the task force on the public service, Transforming Public Services. The task force report builds on the analysis and conclusions of the OECD review and provides the framework for a comprehensive new approach to the reform of the public service.

The pilot phase of the organisation review programme, ORP, which was also published last week, underlines the need for real, immediate and meaningful action to modernise the public service. Like the task force, the ORP highlights the need to put the citizen at the centre of our public services, manage performance better, address cross-cutting issues, and be flexible across traditional organisational boundaries as priorities emerge.

The task force report and ORP were published as part of a major Government policy statement on transforming our public services which sets out how the recommendations of the task force will be implemented. That statement contains details of a number of initiatives to address public service numbers and expenditure and achieve value for money. The Government is also continuing to drive forward the programme aimed at securing increased value for money in public spending through the value for money reviews. The first round of these were scheduled to be carried out between June 2006 and December 2008 and the Government has recently decided that a new round covering the three year period, 2009-11 should be undertaken.

The Government is making a number of improvements to the process which will ensure a greater focus on the biggest spending Departments, more independent reviews, and a more direct role for the Department of Finance in carrying out the most significant reviews. The findings of these reviews are considered directly as part of the annual Estimates process.

Deputies have raised many issues in their comments and these will be subject to more in-depth debate on Committee Stage. With regard to the reasons the recommendations of the Ombudsman are not technically binding, it is clearly the case that when she does issue a finding or recommendation, it is virtually always taken on board by the relevant body. Her position and the respect which that position commands are taken very seriously by public bodies. In discussions between the Department of Finance and the Office of the Ombudsman, it is not the view of the office that the recommendations are not taken on board.

A point was made on bodies excluded from the remit of the Ombudsman. It is important to take into account that we have sought in this Bill to prioritise those bodies which have a significant interface or interaction with citizens and whose administrative actions affect large numbers of people. Commercial State bodies do not come within the remit of the Ombudsman, and this has always been the approach of an Ombudsman Bill. It is not seen as appropriate that bodies subject to commercial pressures and which operate in a commercial environment should be included.

This Bill complements these measures and comes at an appropriate time. As the Taoiseach has said on a number of occasions, public service modernisation is about placing the public at the centre of our public service. The Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill does precisely that.

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