Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

As the Deputy will be aware, senior managers in the public service are already subject to a wide range of accountability measures. Public servants are accountable to the Oireachtas through their appearances before joint committees and the Committee of Public Accounts. They are also subject to scrutiny by the Comptroller and Auditor General and to wider scrutiny through the operation of the freedom of information legislation and the work of the Office of the Ombudsman.

The Public Service Management Act 1997 requires Secretaries General and heads of office to prepare and report on statements of strategy and makes them more directly responsible and accountable for the day-to-day management of their Departments and offices. Such responsibilities and accountability can, in turn, be assigned to other officials. In addition, annual output statements must be submitted by Departments and offices to the Oireachtas in conjunction with the annual Estimates, a system which demands a rigorous approach to the management of all resources across the Civil Service.

The introduction of an integrated Performance Management and Development System, PMDS, places a strong emphasis on individual performance and accountability and the integration of this system with other human resource processes increases the level of accountability for individuals. While much has been achieved in improving the performance and accountability of public servants, I would be the first to recognise that there remains room for further improvement, consistent of course with maintaining the respective roles of Ministers and officials.

Building on the recommendations of the OECD review of the Irish public service, the report of the task force on the public service, Transforming Public Services, identified the improvement of individual and organisational performance, in the context of clearer target outputs and outcomes, as a key priority. The task force made a number of recommendations, including the extension of annual output statements and PMDS to the wider public service. Work on the implementation of the task force recommendations is being overseen by the Cabinet committee on transforming public services.

The proposals recently negotiated at Croke Park provide for the advancement of the next steps in increased accountability at organisational and individual level. These include proposals that merit-based, competitive promotion policies will be the norm; that there will be significantly improved performance management across all public service areas, with promotion and incremental progression linked in all cases to performance; that performance management systems will be introduced in all areas of the public service where none currently exists. Each of these measures should incentivise public servants to achieve performance targets and improve their accountability for same.

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