Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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1. To ask the Taoiseach the way he and his Department formalised the role of the management board in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15214/15]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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2. To ask the Taoiseach the position regarding the Civil Service Management Board; the number of times it has met; if minutes will be made publicly available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15216/15]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together.

The management board of the Department of the Taoiseach, currently referred to as the management advisory committee, MAC, meets normally every week. It provides leadership and strategic direction in fulfilling the Department's broad range of business and corporate responsibilities.

In addition to supporting the constitutional functions of the Taoiseach and the Government and assisting the Chief Whip and three other Ministers of State, the Department of the Taoiseach is heavily involved in the formulation and implementation of Government policy across the full range of domestic, EU and international agendas.

For example, in 2014, the Department dealt with 58 Government meetings involving 952 Government memoranda, 76 Cabinet committee meetings, 20,000 pieces of correspondence, 805 parliamentary questions and 173 freedom of information requests. It also provided support for speeches, 220 functions, 190 meetings, 25 overseas trips and more than 100 press events attended by me.

The Department's MAC comprises senior managers in the Department at Secretary General and assistant secretary level as well as the Department's head of corporate services and personnel officer. The minutes of the Department's MAC are circulated to all staff and also published quarterly on the Department's website. There is also regular and ongoing interaction on management issues between me, the Ministers of State in the Department and the senior management team, including through the Cabinet committee structure and other forums.

Following the publication of the Civil Service renewal plan in 2014, the Civil Service Management Board was established. The board is chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of the Taoiseach and comprises all Secretaries General and heads of major offices. It is overseeing implementation across the Civil Service of all the actions in the renewal plan. The board meets monthly and the minutes of its meetings are available on the website of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has responsibility for Civil Service renewal. Last July, he published a report setting out progress achieved on Civil Service renewal in the first 200 days, including in the following priority areas. First, the accountability board has been established to bring together Civil Service, ministerial and external perspectives on Civil Service performance. It held its first meeting in July and will meet again in November. Second, a performance review process for Secretaries General has been approved and will be introduced for the next performance year, 2016. Third, options to strengthen the disciplinary code have been identified and a revised code developed, which is currently subject to the normal staff consultation process. Fourth, open recruitment campaigns have been held across most Civil Service grades. Fifth, the first Civil Service-wide staff engagement survey, involving more than 38,000 employees, commenced in September to get staff input and to provide a benchmark to measure and compare different Departments.

Work is continuing on delivery of all the actions in the three-year plan with the focus for the next 200 days on the priority areas of strengthening the performance management process for all grades; implementation of a new programme of organisational capability reviews to review the capacity and capability of each Department; publicly recognising staff excellence and innovation, including holding the first Civil Service excellence and innovation awards event later this year; expanding career and mobility opportunities across the Civil Service; improving the delivery of shared whole-of-government projects; strengthening Civil Service communications; and the roll-out of a common corporate governance standard for all Departments and offices.

As part of the Civil Service renewal plan, a draft corporate governance standard for Departments has been developed and published for consultation. Once finalised and agreed by Government, this will require each Department to produce a governance framework setting out the Department's standards of conduct, values and principles of good governance by which it operates. The governance framework will also formally document the role of the management board in Departments.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Unlike many others, I have never agreed with the idea that Ireland is held back by its civil servants. I believe the opposite is the reality. Ireland's civil servants rank highly in international terms and, generally speaking, they show great dedication and commitment to public service and to their country. There is a need for ongoing reform but the programme announced last year by the Taoiseach will not, as he said, transform the Civil Service. It will implement many important improvements, just as many other programmes have done.

The Civil Service Management Board has announced that it will publish a code of practice for special advisers and one element of that is supposed to be a cooling-off period following departure from political service. Will the Taoiseach explain if he is happy with the idea that political special advisers are now eligible to be appointed to permanent senior Civil Service jobs? We have just seen the situation arise where a person who served as a political adviser in this Government up to the middle of last year, and before that for nine years worked directly in a political party, has been appointed as an assistant secretary, a permanent post carrying a starting salary of €120,000 per annum. Is the Taoiseach happy with that? Is he comfortable with the idea that, notwithstanding the code of practice the management board is coming up with, someone can go from a senior political job to a senior Civil Service job while the Government he served is still in office?

In addition to that, in the programme for Government there is a commitment to introduce a reformed incentive system for all grades in all Departments to reward cross-departmental teams that deliver audited improvements in service delivery and cost-effectiveness. Most disability groups will confirm that is not working and that commitment has not been delivered upon. Perhaps the Taoiseach would also say whether all delegation orders to spell out functions of Ministers are in order?

Is it acceptable or reforming that minutes are still not being taken at meetings the Taoiseach and other members of Government attend? When the Minister, Deputy Kelly, met former Vice President, Dan Quayle, president of Cerberus, no minutes were taken then either, because we asked for them. There are other incidents which I deal with in Questions Nos. 3 and 4.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I hope that all delegation orders are in order. I will have that checked for Deputy Martin.

If there is a particular one that Deputy Martin has information about or that is of concern to him, I would be happy to have it checked as a priority.

I understand that the person who had worked in a political capacity went away and worked abroad for a period. The person then applied in the normal way for a position in the public service and came through the process for appointment. The public appointments process is rigid and robust. Choices are made following interviews conducted individually with people who apply.

I am unsure whether Deputy Martin has read the last report from July of this year. The report sets out the progress achieved in the first 200 days in implementing the Civil Service renewal plan.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I have read that.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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It is not simply a report, because it sets out all the actions, including details on the person responsible for seeing that certain actions are taken, the person responsible for sponsoring the actions, the progress that has been made and so on.

Deputy Martin made a comment about the quality and range of the public service. In this sense the plan is something akin to the Action Plan for Jobs, whereby actions are time-lined and reported and all of these matters are published on the website of either the Department of the Taoiseach or the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, which has responsibility in this area. The measures cover the range of Departments, with persons at senior level sponsoring and seeing that these actions are actually applied.

Deputy Martin asked about the minutes taken by Departments. These come through in memoranda for Government and are recorded as formal minutes. The minutes of these management advisory committee meetings are published on a quarterly basis and are on the website of the Department for everyone to read. I am unsure whether that deals with Deputy Martin's question. I will check the question about delegation orders which Deputy Martin raised and come back to him on it.

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I have one or two quick questions, although the Taoiseach may have dealt with the matter in his first answer. The minutes of the board are available on the website of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, but I can only find records up until May. Were any meetings held after May? If so, when can we expect the minutes of these meetings to be posted?

The Taoiseach made the point that this Civil Service management board has a key role in the Civil Service renewal plan and in the reform under way. The nub of this is contained in an earlier response from the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, when he stated:

Public Service Reform is a key element of the Government's overall strategy for recovery. Led by my Department, the reforms delivered over the past four years have enabled us to maintain and improve public services in the face of the necessary reduction in staff numbers and budgets, at a time of increased demand for public services.

That is the nub. I agree that the public service - the Civil Service, in particular - is generally speaking a good service and that the people who work in it do their very best. However, the Government's austerity programme has reduced staff numbers, cut budgets and cut the funding for public services significantly. Is that not at the nub of some of the difficulties?

We have some of the highest rates of low pay in the developed world. To put it better, we have some of the lowest rates of pay in the developed world in this State. Given that the Government is the largest employer in the State, has the Taoiseach considered introducing a living wage of €11.45 throughout the Civil Service? Would that not increase morale and ensure greater productivity by civil servants?

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Government has tried to be practical and prudent in the allocation of resources made available by the people through their sacrifices in recent years. While not every expectation could be met, the Government has, within the resources available to it, tried to prioritise the areas involved in this case.

One of the first decisions made by the Government was to reverse the cut in the minimum wage, which brought another 300,000 back into that. We followed that with the setting up of the Low Pay Commission. This was the responsibility of the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, and the Minister of State, Deputy Nash. There was a reason for this. Previously, we had a haphazard and uncertain system of determining wage increases for lower paid workers. The Low Pay Commission did a good job in pointing out the critical points where consideration should be given for an increase in wages. When the commission was launched earlier this year by myself, the Tánaiste, the Minister, Deputy Bruton, and the Minister of State, Deputy Nash, we said that when it reported the Government would respond through the budget. That has happened. By way of balance we know that, for example, when lower paid workers reach the level of €352 per week, they would be worse off getting an increase to the minimum wage unless they received an adjustment in PRSI. Clearly, in that regard we need a balance for employers in order that the burden does not fall unduly on the employer and we responded to that in the budget. I would like to think that the best opportunity to deal with lower wages and increase a person's potential is to have upskilling, retraining and a better job. The living wage is something that I accept in principle, of course. However, I would like to think that we could give greater opportunity to those who work and demonstrate that work actually pays - for them that is the way it should be.

Some points may be of interest to Deputy Adams. In the first 200 days of the plan a number of things have changed across the Civil Service. Open recruitment campaigns were held for principal officer, assistant principal officer, administrative officer, executive officer and clerical officer grades in the Civil Service. They have built on existing arrangements. Options to strengthen the disciplinary code were identified and a revised code was drafted as a consequence. A total of 11 town hall events were held throughout the country, including in Dublin, Wexford, Kilkenny, Galway, Sligo, Cork and Athlone. Events for Dundalk and Limerick are scheduled. The primary purpose of the meetings held, and to be held, is to take observations and suggestions from members of the Civil Service and build confidence and trust. These events facilitate regional input into the Civil Service renewal plan and allow staff an opportunity to network outside their normal office space. A panel consisting of senior civil servants facilitated discussions with audience questions. The issues raised included mobility within the Civil Service, open recruitment, learning and development and where opportunities exist for self-betterment. The first mobility policy for senior managers at principal officer level was agreed and the first moves are expected shortly. This builds on the existing mobility programme at assistant secretary level. A chief human resources officer was appointed. A total of 13 open policy debates have been held to date. These have involved policy networks, practitioners, academics and experts in a range of policy areas. The topics covered include education reform, national risk assessment, a labour market symposium and future investment in early years education.

A Civil Service customer satisfaction survey was completed by 2,000 people and published in May 2015. The survey results highlighted strong and stable satisfaction levels. The first Civil Service engagement survey involved 38,000 people. A proposed model for learning and development to improve capability through enhanced procurement and shared delivery of training throughout the Civil Service was agreed. The Civil Service excellence in innovation awards is a new annual event to recognise staff excellence and innovation in the Civil Service. As Deputy Martin pointed out, the reputation of our Civil Service is exceptionally high.

A common corporate governance standard for all Departments has been developed for the first time. This will be finalised following public consultation. The approach for a new programme for organisational capability to review capacity and capability has been agreed in respect of every Department. An information and communications technology strategy to deliver more online services and better outcomes in efficiency through innovation and excellence in ICT was published in the first quarter of this year and implementation is under way. An enhanced performance review process for assistant secretaries has been developed and is being piloted by four Departments in quarter 3 of 2015. That is progress and represents active engagement from the Civil Service in respect of how things might be improved with a view to services being provided more efficiently and so on.