Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government contains a range of commitments for political reform, such as Ministers of State playing a more substantive role in policy formation and a re-examination of their functions within departmental structures and of their relationships with Ministers.

There is also a commitment to examine the creation of unpaid roles of parliamentary private secretaries and the balance of power and responsibility between the Government and the Civil Service. What progress has been made in this regard? Has an examination been undertaken? What is the level of engagement, to date and planned, with the men and women who will deliver this reform programme? One often hears civil and public servants say they have reform fatigue, that is, they are busy and working but they do not feel engaged in the decisions that are made in the political sphere.

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