Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to note the Department is open to engaging with front-line officials. Having been involved in reform for some time, the Minister of State will be aware that the Croke Park agreement, while offering some limited value, is an old-fashioned, centralist and top-down approach to public sector reform. International best practice in the public and private sectors is to engage directly with employees. While a small number of measures can be taken at a high level, for example, one can agree changes in rosters and so forth, the vast majority of savings are identified on the shop floor. In cases where we used lean process design for operating theatres, it was shown that substantial savings were possible. However, the only people who can identify and implement such savings are porters, nurses, surgeons and so forth. The same applies in accident and emergency departments in respect of triage procedures.

During a recent appearance on "The Frontline", I argued that engagement with public sector workers was a key element missing from the current approach. After the programme, I was inundated with e-mails and approached by audience members who thanked me for raising the issue and pointed out that I was the first person to say they should be contacted directly. They provided examples of changes in their workplaces that could generates savings of tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of euro. I was informed, however, that efforts to implement these changes in response to the crisis were blocked by a union control mentality which insists that change must come through the unions. I hope the current culture in which change and improvement are viewed as things to be stopped and then negotiated with the Government is coming to an end.

I would like the Minister of State, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, and their officials to move beyond agreeing to be open to ideas from employees and instead consider adopting a planned, systemic approach in parallel with the ongoing top level approach that is being taken under the Croke Park agreement. They need to engage with employees all over the country.

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