Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

-----and handed over to us an economy on the verge of bankruptcy and in the control of the troika - was responsible for anything. If he wants to lay claim on the great successes of that Administration, then the Deputy is skating on very thin ice.

The current Government established the Department for Public Expenditure and Reform. In November 2011 we published an entire reform programme containing more than 200 actions, each with its own indicative timeline. All of those actions are being rolled out. Deputy Sean Fleming should consider PeoplePoint and other shared services. This week the Cabinet has decided - an announcement in this regard will be made shortly - to introduce centralised payroll systems and so on. We are also examining the position with regard to centralised banking. The Deputy should visit my Department's website, where he can read about all the proposals - with timelines - we are rolling out in order to fundamentally alter the public service. The latter will become manifest in the coming years.

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