Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

As regards the Deputy's final point, as I said in my first reply, it is expected that the group will report to the Minister for Finance by the end of June. It has already spoken to about 14 or 15 Departments, so that is on track.

As regards the Deputy's first question, the report Transforming Public Services referred to the question of redeployment and being able to get flexibility across the public service, thus moving people to areas of greatest need. For example, one could point to the demand on public services that is arising in the area of social welfare supports at present. Getting people to deal with that increased demand of work means they need to be flexible and amenable to change, thus reacting more quickly than the system seems capable of doing at the moment, unfortunately, because of the processes and procedures in place.

Redeployments are often subject to maintaining certain quotas at various grades because of procedures and processes that were built up in the past. That was at a different time when the whole question of organisational structure was far different from what it is, or should be, today. That needs to be fast-tracked with an oversight mechanism to move it along. It needs to be done in the interests of everyone who wants to see quality public services within a responsive and flexible system that is in operation to meet increased demands which might suddenly arise. The problem is that our processes and procedures in industrial relations terms are not capable of responding as quickly as the public, public representatives or many in the public service would like. They date back to arrangements that may have been agreed 30 years ago. That culture and what it represents must change.

We have a voluntary industrial relations system; there are people of quality in our public services and in a representative capacity in trade unions who know and understand that we simply have to address this issue and confirm that it is needed for the future. Those of us who are committed to public services want to see them providing value for taxpayers' hard-earned money. That flexibility and redeployment must be put in place in order to maintain and improve confidence in the capacity of our public services to deliver, in certain respects, at a time of unexpected demand on some sectors. Despite the best efforts of everybody thus far, I do not believe we have the flexible arrangements in place in sufficient measure to enable us to do that.

Obtaining changed practices that would enable people to be moved across the service as demands require is critical to quality public services being provided in the way we want. Unfortunately, we are not at that point yet, despite the best efforts of everyone. It is currently an issue for discussion at the social partnership talks and elsewhere as to how that can be done. We have to do this in a way that meets modern requirements given that Governments and Administrations face having fewer resources than in the past. Greater flexibilities and more effective redeployment will be required if we are to provide the quality public services to which people aspire. Those were the two main points the Deputy raised.

On the question regarding quality customer service initiatives, as the Deputy said, various codes of conduct, etc., have been put in place. One of the issues that arises in the group discussing the transformation of public services is the need to have a culture of quality of service and uniform quality standards across all services as part of the management needed to deliver public services, as intended by the report.

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