Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle as ucht na deise labhairt ar an mBille seo anocht. As my colleague, Deputy Cullinane, has outlined, we are giving qualified support to the Bill. We have some concerns, which Deputy Cullinane has outlined. In terms of education, there are benefits associated with the notion of shared services. It has relevance to the education sector. The education and local government sectors represent more than 40% of the Irish public service. Sinn Féin supports any measures that will increase efficiency and reduce waste in public services. There are many examples of areas where increased shared services would be of significant benefit in the education sector. In particular, areas such as the roll-out of broadband ICT and the digital strategy for schools have all benefitted from shared services initiatives. There is also scope to develop enhanced shared services in areas such as further education and training, which is managed between the State agency, SOLAS, in partnership with 16 education and training boards. It is my view that the greater sharing of information and data between Departments and agencies in the education sector would potentially ease the administrative burden and inform more effective policy decisions. For example, areas such as school transport, admissions and capital planning could all benefit from more comprehensive data sharing between schools and the Department on projected student numbers. However, there are a number of concerns about the Bill. There is a genuine fear that the Bill could pave the way for further outsourcing of elements of the public service to external bodies, raising potential issues with regard to the rights of workers and also with respect to data protection and confidentiality.

The definition of a shared service within the context of the Bill is quite broad and leaves significant scope for the Minister and the national shared services office to determine the range of goods and services that will fall within the remit of the Bill. This would need to be clarified on Committee Stage. There is also a clear need to ensure there is strong accountability of the office to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and to the finance committee. This needs to be strengthened on Committee Stage.

Overall, I welcome the stated purpose of the Bill to improve efficiencies and look forward to working with my colleagues, particularly Deputy Cullinane, as the Bill proceeds to Committee Stage to ensure outstanding concerns are addressed.

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