Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 4: To ask the Taoiseach the number of meetings held to date of the Cabinet committee on transforming public services, which he chairs and when the next meeting is scheduled. [1034/09]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 5: To ask the Taoiseach the staff or resources which have been allocated to the programme office within his office, established to support implementation of the report of the task force on the public service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1035/09]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 6: To ask the Taoiseach when the cabinet committee on transforming public services last met; and when it is scheduled to meet next. [7059/09]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 to 6, inclusive, together. The Government statement on transforming public services and the report of the task force on the public service were published in late November. The statement sets out an ambitious programme of renewal for the entire public service and represents the next critical phase in the reform of our public services. Implementation is being overseen by the Cabinet committee on transforming public services, which has met twice already. The last meeting of the Cabinet committee took place on Wednesday, 4 March and the next meeting is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 1 April. The first meeting took place in early February. The Cabinet committee will continue to meet regularly thereafter to ensure progress on the implementation of the commitments in transforming public services.

I chair the Cabinet committee and its membership also includes the Minister for Finance, the Minister for Health and Children, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government, and the Minister for Education and Science. Other Ministers and Ministers of State will attend meetings as necessary.

The work of the Cabinet committee is being supported by the newly established programme office, which is based in my Department. The programme office will support organisations across the public service in their efforts at transformation and will also support the Government in driving, co-ordinating and monitoring progress in implementation. In addition, it will promote innovation and the piloting of new activities and identify areas for joint action by organisations.

The programme office has been established from within the existing financial and staff resources of my Department. In addition, it will be supplemented by four secondees, one each from the four main sectors of the public service, namely, the local government, health, education and justice sectors. The cost of these four individuals will be met by their parent organisations. Its full complement of staff will be in place shortly. No new resources will be used to implement the overall programme of change. Instead, the resources required to implement the programme will come from within existing allocations, through reprioritising activities.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Can the Taoiseach outline what recommendations made by the task force, arising from its consideration of the OECD report, have been implemented to date? When is the special group on public service numbers and expenditure — commonly known as an bord snip nua or an bord slash — due to report? How does it intend to report? Will there be a complete or partial report and will it be published? Is it a report solely for the Government or is it for public consumption?

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Regarding the second part of the question, the committee was established by the Minister for Finance to whom it reports on an ongoing basis. It is in the process of examining areas of expenditure in various departmental Estimates and will proceed and report as it sees fit based on the work that it is progressing. Such work is reported to the Minister for Finance who then brings matters to the attention of the Cabinet. It is for the Cabinet to decide in what way any of the recommendations are to be implemented or what decisions are to be taken. Such political decisions are taken by Cabinet, but the recommendations or the work of the committee on public service numbers will inform the recommendations of the Minister for Finance to Cabinet.

I refer to the question regarding the progress made with the transforming public services programme. The implementation structures have been established, namely, the Cabinet committee and the steering group, and the programme office has been established. It is expected that the sectoral centres will also be up and running by the end of March. A communication strategy has been agreed by the Cabinet committee, the implementation of which has commenced. It includes a new website, a series of presentations and seminars and the production of sector specific and topic specific material. The special group on public service numbers and expenditure programmes is currently reviewing staff allocation on a Vote group by Vote group basis. Thereafter, it is a matter for the Minister for Finance.

On organisational review programmes, the five organisations to be reviewed in 2009 have been identified and the process has commenced. A public announcement on the matter will be made shortly. On the value for money reviews, a new round of reviews was approved by Government in late 2008. The 2009 reviews are under way. They are due to commence in 12 Departments for completion by the end of this year. Again, the matter is reported to the Minister for Finance in the first instance. On shared services, groups have been established to drive forward shared services initiatives in respect of financial management, payroll, human resources, pensions, single point of contact telephone services and a common means assessment repository. Again, this matter is to be dealt with by the Minister for Finance in the first instance. On public procurement, the national operations unit based in the OPW has been established. A progress report to Government on e-Government projects is also coming forward. We have attempted to ensure the various recommendations under those headings are progressed. We put the structures in place and we have made arrangements for work to commence and that is ongoing.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Nuair a sheol an Taoiseach tuarascáil ar sheirbhísí phoiblí i mí na Samhna 2008, dúirt sé go raibh sé "undertaking a programme of work on the structure and function of the public services". What is the next step in that programme of work? Cad í an chéad céim eile sa chlár oibre sin? Cad faoi struchtúr na seirbhísí phoiblí? Cén sórt athruithe ata i gceist ag an Taoiseach?

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Tá sé i gceist agam go mbeidh na seirbhísí phoiblí níos éifeachtaí, go gcaithfí an airgead atá ar fáil chun seirbhísí phoiblí a chur os comhair na ndaoine chomh éifeachtach agus is féidir agus go ndéanfaí athruithe sna heagraíochtaí éagsula. Ní bheidh na teorainn céanna, a bhaineann leis na heagraíochtaí éagsúla atá sé mar chúram acu seirbhísí poiblí a chur ar fáil do dhaoine ar fud na tíre, i gceist as seo amach. Luaigh mé a lán initiatives, ar nós better value for money in public procurement, value for money in policy reviews, measures in managing the performance of people and organisations, better use of information, e-Government and shared services, better management of the public service and the whole question of implementation and accountability for transformation of public services, sa fhreagra a thug mé níos luaithe. Tá a lán obair á dhéanamh againn. Tá sé riachtanach go gcomhlíonfaí na hathruithe atá i gceist againn sa tréimhse atá luaite sa tuarascáil.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Dúirt an Rialtas i ráiteas a chur sé amach le déanaí go mbeadh na hathruithe atá le déanamh leagtha amach i bplean trí bhliana, atá fós le bheith curtha os ár gcomhair. Tá a fhios ag an Taoiseach go bhfuil an Rialtas chun buiséad nua a thógaint isteach go luath, ar an mbonn gur tharla rudaí áirithe le déanaí. An bhfuil sé i gceist ag an Rialtas plean a leagadh amach le haghaidh na trí bhliana atá amach romhainn ó thaobh cursaí eacnamaíochta na tíre? Ba cheart go mbeadh a fhios ag gach éinne agus gach eagras go bhfuil plean, ó thaobh an caiteachas náisiúnta de, leagtha amach le haghaidh na trí bhliana atá amach romhainn.

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Tá an cheart ag an Teachta go bhfuil sé ar intinn againn an phlean seo a chomhlíonadh ar feadh na trí bhliana atá amach romhainn. Léiríonn tuarascáil an task force go gcaithfimid an phlean a thosnú má táimid chun dul chun cinn a dhéanamh ó thaobh an agenda forleathan atá againn — mar shampla, athrú mór a dhéanamh sa slí ina mbeidh seirbhísí phoiblí os comhair na ndaoine sa tréimhse atá luaite agam.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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I return to the Taoiseach's reply in respect of an bord snip. The Taoiseach stated this group would report to the Minister for Finance on an ongoing basis. Has it presented any reports to date? If so, on what Departments has it reported?

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I am afraid this series of questions relates to the Cabinet committee on transforming public services.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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That is what an bord snip is about. The question arises from——

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Ceann Comhairle)
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It does not arise from this committee.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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I accept there has been a long lead into this. An OECD report was published a year ago. A task force was then established by the Government to examine how to implement the OECD report. The task force presented a report in November and arising from this a Cabinet committee was established to implement the task force report on implementing the OECD report. There is also a programme office and a special group on numbers and expenditure. All of this is about one thing.

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Ceann Comhairle)
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To be honest, it sounds a little like the song, "The Bog Down in the Valley". The questions relate to the Cabinet committee on transforming public services.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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While I appreciate there is a bit of Sir Humphrey and the department of administrative affairs about this, nevertheless it all relates to the public service. In respect of what Departments has the group reported to date? Will we see the outcome of its reports? The Taoiseach also stated five organisations would be subject to review this year. To which organisations does he refer?

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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On the question of what progress the McCarthy committee has been making, we wanted an independent examination of staffing levels in all parts of the public service to identify those posts and activities which are not essential. The group will consider proposals by the management of each public body to achieve the reduced payroll allocation made for this year. Those recommendations will assist the Minister for Finance to identify economies which can be made in the immediate future. The intention is to identify those posts and activities which are not essential and develop proposals for the redeployment of staff.

The group began its work late last year and agreed its working methodology in December. It is working on a Vote group basis and each Vote group has been asked to prepare an evaluation paper for the group in advance of meeting the group. The relevant Vote sections are preparing material for the group's consideration. The group has met eight Departments and is meeting the defence and foreign affairs Vote groups on Wednesday, 11 March. It has received evaluation reports from 11 Departments as well as papers from the relevant Vote sections in the Department of Finance.The eight Departments with which it has met are the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, the Department of Transport, the Department of Health and Children, the Department of Finance and the Department of the Taoiseach. Under its terms of reference, the committee is required to report to the Minister for Finance by the end of June and it is on course to do so. The group is free to provide comments or reports on spending issues before that if it so wishes and these can be taken into account by the Minister for Finance and the Government as appropriate.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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An bhfuil moltaí cinnte déanta maidir leis na daoine atá ag obair sa tseirbhís phoiblí? Mar shampla, an mbeidh an Rialtas ag déileáil leis an HSE? An mbeidh gá le níos mó postanna i gcúram sláinte agus níos lú postanna i riarachán?

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Tá thart ar 370,000 daoine ag obair sa tseirbhís phoiblí. Is é sin, go cruinn, an méid atá ann. Tá sé ar intinn ag an choiste mionscrúdú a dhéanamh ar an méid fostaithe atá sa HSE. B'fhéidir nach bhfuil gá leo go léir um an dtaca seo. B'fhéidir go mbeimid in ann na hacmhainní atá á chur ar fáil againn sa chóras slándála a úsáid ag an "front line".