Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Reform, innovation, doing things more smartly and more efficiently, as well as having regard for new technologies, are now a constant part of the norm for public servants, as they are for the private sector. As I said last week, they are now hard-wired into public services. When I took office four and a half years ago, I was given two jobs, namely, to balance the books as Minister with responsibility for public expenditure and to be the first Minister of Cabinet rank to reform the public sector. A remarkable amount of reform has been carried out since. That reform is not a crisis-only event but needs to be a constant part in the way public services are delivered. This will ensure quality public services are available to all citizens which are not subject to boom and bust. It will mean people who have grown used to a service are not suddenly deprived of it simply because we cannot afford to provide it. That is a sustainable future on which we have set our sights and that we are determined to achieve.

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