Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The independent panel on strengthening Civil Service accountability and performance made a number of recommendations in 2014, one of which was the establishment of the Civil Service accountability board, chaired by the Taoiseach. My colleague, Deputy Mairéad Farrell, raised the issue of the board's work with the Taoiseach last month. The Taoiseach confirmed then that the board had not met in some time. In fact, it has not met since 2016. That is six years ago. Has the board been stood down?

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If so, is that because it had concluded its work? If so, was the decision to stand down the Civil Service accountability board formally announced at any stage?

The Civil Service management board, by distinction, does meet regularly and is tasked with strengthening the performance of the Civil Service, strategic oversight and delivery of stringent governance, as the Taoiseach described, but it does not seem to have any accountability function. The Civil Service Renewal 2030 strategy published last year briefly notes the strategy will build a Civil Service that encourages - that is the word it uses - accountability and this work will be supported by accountability mechanisms, but those are the only references to accountability in the entire strategy. What body or board is currently responsible for ensuring effective accountability of Civil Service and public service management? Specifically, I ask the Taoiseach to answer my questions in respect of the Civil Service accountability board which, as I stated, has not met since 2016.

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