Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As the House will be aware, the measures negotiated under the Haddington Road agreement will deliver a further reduction of €1 billion in the public service pay and pensions bill by 2016. The focus of public service management is now firmly on the delivery of the required level of savings and there has been significant progress in the implementation of the agreement at various levels.

The Cabinet Committee on Public Service Reform, chaired by the Taoiseach, meets regularly to review, among other public service reform issues, progress on the implementation of the Haddington Road agreement. In addition, officials in my Department represent public service management on the agreement's oversight group, which is charged with addressing issues of implementation and interpretation under the agreement as they arise.

In terms of cost reduction, almost €300 million in savings, arising from the implementation of various measures under the agreement, was incorporated into the various Votes in the context of the Revised Estimates for last year. The measures and reforms implemented helped to ensure that spending remained in line with profile and resulted in Ireland delivering on our fiscal targets for last year, enabling us to exit the troika programme.

Furthermore, the full-year impact of the measures implemented in 2013 has been incorporated into the respective Votes for 2014. In addition, a number of other measures which will deliver additional savings this year and beyond, such as the deferral of increment progression, have also been incorporated into all Votes as appropriate.

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