Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the question. There have been major efficiency and productivity gains in the public service in recent years. New working arrangements have been introduced, including longer working hours, new rosters - some of which have not been changed in 30 years - and standardised arrangements for annual leave and sick leave. The numbers working in the public service have been reduced by over 30,000 since 2008. At this stage, the public service is at 2005 staffing levels, while the Exchequer pay bill has been reduced from €17.5 billion in 2009 to an estimated €13.5 billion for 2014 net of the pension-related deduction. These and other areas of progress were set out in the detailed progress report on public service reform, which I published last week and circulated to all Deputies.

Public service reform will remain a key element of the Government's strategic response to the ongoing challenges we face. It is in this context that a new public service reform plan 2014-16 was published last week. Again, I have sent a copy to everyone in the House. The next phase of reform will continue to focus on cost reduction. However, it will also focus on better outcomes for service users and on delivering real improvements in how citizens and business customers interact with public services.

Under the new plan the reform agenda will be about protecting and improving public services. Over the period of the plan there will be an emphasis on savings to invest. This is about freeing up resources by making existing processes more cost-effective and efficient and using the savings to invest in new and improved services. I have classified this as the reform dividend and it will underpin and sustain the reform agenda beyond the current crisis. We will be taking steps to ensure that the public service makes maximum use of digitisation and open data to deliver services. My time is almost up but I would be happy to deal with any supplementary questions the Deputy may have.

See this speech in context