Tom Barry (Cork East, Fine Gael)

Public sector employee numbers per head of population are still growing faster than the EU average in Ireland. Armed with these figures, the appointment of a Minister to oversee the public sector and expenditure is vital if we are to work our way out of this financial crisis. Let us not forget why we are here. This crisis was caused by a reckless Government which acted with callous abandonment and ran the country on to the rocks while surrendering our economic sovereignty 80 years after gaining independence. I am trying to run a business on cash flow without the support of the banking sector and conditions are absolutely terrible. I am not prepared to listen to those who say this just happened and we are where we are.

The increase in public sector numbers between 2000 and 2010 equated to false employment and a non-productive growth area. It was a costly way to reduce the unemployment figures but, sadly, it was not targeted or sustainable. The facts bear this out. The Exchequer pay and pensions bill more than doubled from €8.32 billion in 2000 to €18.75 billion in 2010. Let us examine the arguments on both sides. We have the argument that we have a bloated public service that needs to be reined in and there are many examples in this regard while the opposing argument is the public service delivers an efficient and vital service to keep our country running on a daily basis. In 2010, however, the health and education sectors accounted for 43% and 32%, respectively, of total public service expenditure. These two sectors are vital.

Section 7(4) also transfers a number of services currently under the remit of the Minister for Finance to the Minister for public expenditure and reform, including the Commissioners of Public Works, Public Appointments Service, Commission for Public Service Appointments, Valuation Office and the State Laboratory.

Under section 8, the Minister will assume responsibility for existing non-statutory functions of the Departments of Finance and the Taoiseach and play a role in public service reform and in the promotion of value for money in the procurement of goods and services. Procurement is important because every company has two ways to survive the mess we are in. One is to buy more competitively and the other is to provide a more efficient service. This Bill in the longer term will prove valuable to the creation of an efficient public service of which we all can be proud. Public service bashing has gone on for too long. We are a great country to create divides among various sections of our small population.

Like political reform, public sector reform is being approached in a systematic, businesslike fashion by the Government. Detractors berate the Bill as creating duplication and additional layers of bureaucracy. However, it provides a tightened management structure in the public sector which, in time, will help to lift the morale of public servants and allow the public sector to become more transparent, thereby providing value for the taxpayer, which is its job.

I hope the Bill will also address the outsourcing of work, which would be done by public servants, to private sector companies. The potential of the legislation is vast and it is important to get value for money to allow the economy to grow and to ensure sustainable growth. I come from the private sector and the advantages it has will be mimicked by the public sector, which will make it competitive. It is important to look forward and to make the public service an attractive place to work for our brightest and best youngsters. This Bill will prove that in time.

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