Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Seanad for giving me the opportunity to update the House on public service reform issues. In planning and delivering reform I have always said we are willing to listen to good ideas from all sources and very much look forward to hearing the views of Senators on the comprehensive reform plan. I will be meeting the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform next week in a similar context.

Since the publication of the first public service reform plan in November 2011, I am pleased to say we have made good progress in reducing costs, improving productivity, the online delivery of services, the development of shared services and putting in place the structures to reform public procurement, property management and many other areas. We have been implementing these reforms at a time of increased demands on public services. For example, the numbers in receipt of jobseeker's payments, of full-time enrolments in education and medical card holders have all increased significantly since 2008. Notwithstanding these increased demands, we have maintained service provision, while reducing staff numbers in the public service by more than 30,000 since 2008. The cost to the Exchequer of public service pay has fallen from €17.5 billion in 2009 to €14.1 billion last year, an extraordinary reduction. New working arrangements have been introduced, including longer working hours, new rosters and standardised arrangements for annual leave and sick leave. We have also been removing barriers to the redeployment of staff to priority areas across the public service.

This has been achieved in an environment of industrial relations stability. The Croke Park agreement and, more recently, the Haddington Road agreement have been key enablers for many of these changes. The role public servants themselves have played in our ongoing recovery should not go unrecognised. I am very happy to underscore and recognise the work of public servants in that regard.

The Government is committed to building on the success we have achieved to date. We cannot become complacent. We remain in challenging fiscal times and reforming our public services is a critical component in meeting the challenges. Doing more with limited resources remains as relevant now as ever. One of the challenges we face is convincing the public that the public services it pays for are worth the investment, particularly given all the other pressing needs facing the State and citizens. I strongly believe that effective public governance can contribute to Ireland's competitiveness and the attractiveness of its business environment for investment and the creation of employment. Efficient public services affect taxation levels and the State's funding requirements.

Last month, I launched the Government's new public service reform plan, setting out our ambitious programme for the next phase of public service reform to 2016. I forwarded a copy to each Senator. I published at the same time a progress report on the Government's first reform plan, which was published in November 2011. Since then, considerable progress has been made. Let me give the House some specific examples. PeoplePoint, the Civil Service-wide human resources and pensions shared services centre, has been operational since March of last year and is now servicing 15,000 employees across 13 different organisations. PeoplePoint will be fully operational by next January, at which time it will provide services to 40 organisations, with estimated savings of €12.5 million to follow annually.

Other shared services projects are progressing well in the Civil Service and across other sectors. We have undertaken a major review of public procurement and are now implementing a radical overhaul of our public procurement approach, with a target of €500 million in savings over the next three years, including a budgeted €127 million in procurement savings this year.

An action plan, setting out a broad range of measures to deliver efficiencies in the State's extensive property portfolio, was published last summer and is currently being implemented. We have issued over 500,000 public service cards to date. They are currently being used for social welfare payments and the free travel scheme. We are considering extending the card to cover a greater number of services. We envisage that it will be possible to issue a further 900,000 cards during the course of this year.

The Office of Government Chief Information Officer has been established within my Department to build on the Government's strong performance on e-government and maximise the potential benefits of digitalisation and open data to deliver services and information in more efficient and innovative ways. The Government services portal, gov.ie, now includes quick links to more than 400 information and transaction services, including those relating to Revenue, social welfare, higher education grants, motor tax and property registration. A number of customer-facing online services also have been launched. These includefixyourstreet.iewhich allows the public to report non-emergency issues to their local authorities andintreo.iethrough which employers and jobseekers can access all existing information and services regarding support, training and entitlements.

A series of public expenditure reforms has been implemented to bring greater structure, scrutiny and openness to budgeting. The Government is also making good progress in implementing a comprehensive programme of political and legislative reform aimed at enhancing openness, transparency and accountability. The publication of important financial and performance data on my Department's Databank and Ireland Stat websites was another important step in this process. These are just a small number of examples and further details of the achievements in delivering reform are set out in the progress report I circulated to Members last month to accompany the new reform plan. The new public service reform plan outlines the key cross-cutting and sectoral reform initiatives that will be implemented in the next three years. It also looks further forward to address the broader ambition for reform towards 2020. The first phase of the Government's public service reform programme focused on ways to consolidate and reduce costs because that was a necessity when the Government took office. It did so by taking out duplication and waste by focusing on shared services, better procurement, rationalisation, reducing staff numbers and improving expenditure controls. The next phase of reform will continue to drive reduced costs and greater efficiency but will also have an increased focus on citizen engagement and improving outcomes for service users, the economy and society as a whole. Implementation of the reform plan will be delivered through a focus on service users, increased efficiency and greater openness, underpinned by a strong emphasis on leadership, capability and delivery.

The Government is committed to driving greater use of alternative service delivery models. This will include considering innovative approaches to funding services in return for delivering specified outcomes such as social impact investment which the Government is exploring. The Government must measure the impact of public spending in deciding how and whether to fund these services. Of course, moving to alternative methods of service provision does not alter the fact that the Government is accountable to the public for the overall performance of public services. The State will retain an essential role in deciding how and to what extent services are funded and in regulating the behaviour of service providers.

In recent years the habits and behaviour of citizens and businesses have changed as the introduction of consumer technology such as smartphone, tablet and smart television technology has spread throughout businesses, homes, schools and other public service organisations. In the same way that the private sector has started to exploit the new digital world, the public service also is adapting to this new environment. The Government's digital strategy will drive improved performance and effectiveness of public services. It will consider how new digital opportunities and trends in technology can be harnessed to deliver a new genre of services. Where appropriate, a mandated "digital by default" approach will be adopted. As part of a new public service information and communications technology, ICT, strategy, the "Top 20" transactional services across the public service are being identified and prioritised for digitalisation. A new data sharing and governance Bill will address how public services operate in the new digital world and under what circumstances data can be legitimately and securely shared. Sharing data will increase efficiency and ensure citizens are not asked for information time after time that is already held in other parts of the public service system. I hope the public service card will be a great advantage in this regard, in that one will not be obliged to fill in one's name, address and PPS number each time one accesses any service.

We need to radically change how we engage with citizens and customers. Public service organisations will consult with their customer bases to identify areas where priority action is required to enhance service delivery. They will also ensure that their information and transactions are more accessible. The public service must simplify the language it uses when communicating with citizens. Alongside this, there must be a renewed focus on improving both internal and customer-facing business processes.

As well as changing how we deliver public services, we will continue to focus on increasing efficiency and productivity. This will include a greater use of shared services across all sectors of the public service. For example, the creation of a new single payroll shared service centre for the Civil Service will consolidate and integrate payroll processes and practices from 18 current centres now delivering payroll services to three payroll centres, which will deliver an estimated €5.6 million in annual savings. We determined that there should be three centres because of the physical infrastructure that is already in place, but they will be integrated into one singe payroll provider.

There will be more efficient and effective public procurement, with targeted savings over €500 million over the next three years.

The implementation of the Government's property management action plan will deliver efficiencies and a more integrated approach to the management of the State's extensive property portfolio. Until very recently, we did not even have a snapshot or a proper inventory of all the premises occupied, rented or owned by the State sector.

As I have already mentioned, the Haddington Road agreement will act as a key enabler for the delivery of the next phase of the Government's reform programme. The agreement will deliver an additional €1 billion reduction in the cost of the public service pay and pensions bill by 2016. It should be noted that core pay reductions in the Haddington Road process were confined to the better paid within the public service, commensurate with its leadership role across the system. This poses its own challenges in recruitment at senior levels, and is something we might have to talk about into the future. However, ensuring the pay impacts were fair and progressive across the broader public service was critical in securing consent to the changes we have made. It is remarkable that every public sector union that balloted, and they all balloted, formally endorsed the Haddington Road agreement.

The agreement also provides for a total of 15 million additional working hours across all sectors of the public service. These additional hours will help to deliver long-term and sustainable increases in productivity, while also helping to improve the provision of services to citizens, but it is imperative that managers at delivery level fully utilise the capacity of the Haddington Road agreement and those 15 million additional hours that are now available.

As reform efficiencies are realised, some of the savings made will be reinvested in services. That is something I underscored in launching the reform plan. I call this the reform dividend, and this reform dividend will serve to underpin and help sustain the reform agenda beyond the current crisis by identifying and tackling waste and inefficiency. We will use this dividend to invest in areas that work best for the citizen. In essence, I am saying that savings we make from shared services, better procurement and all of the efficiencies can be redeployed to some extent - for example, by reopening recruitment to the Garda Síochána or providing this year more special needs assistants, resource teachers and so on. We are moving from back-office efficiency to front-office proper provision.

We are also progressing our legislative programme to improve public governance and rebuild public trust in the administrative and political branches of the State. This will include the introduction and implementation of lobbying regulation, which is coming down the track shortly; the enactment and implementation of a reformed Freedom of Information Act - I hope to be back in the other House shortly on Report Stage of that legislation; participation in the Open Government Partnership - I am very pleased that we will be hosting the European segment of the Open Government Partnership here in May; enactment and implementation of legislation to protect whistleblowers - as Senators will know, very useful debate and amendment took place in this House on that legislation; the continuation of the comprehensive programme of statute law revision, which is well under way; and further strengthening of the ethical framework for officeholders and public servants underpinned by legislation - a consolidation Bill is being worked on by my Department on that score. We have already radically reformed our local government structures through the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.

The Government has also established the Constitutional Convention. Previous debates about our Constitution have been confined to the Oireachtas or its committees. This innovative format will see this Government present to the people the most radical reform of our Constitution since it was first endorsed by the people. The people will in their wisdom, approve or reject proposals for change. That is their prerogative but they will have been asked and their stamp will be borne out on the State's institutions.

We must ensure that we have the capacity and capability to deliver reform. A high performing and accountable leadership cadre at the most senior levels of our public service is crucial in supporting economic recovery and driving effective delivery of services to the citizen. Leaders and managers across the public service must have a clear sense of what needs to be achieved and they must have a strong focus on performance, delivery and results. Traditional policies and practices must continue to be tested to ensure that they firmly underpin business and organisational requirements. In doing this, performance management systems must support managers in getting the best from staff. The delivery of Ireland's ambitious reform plans will require a strong emphasis on implementation and governance. This is led by the Cabinet committee on public service reform, which will provide strategic direction and hold senior managers to account for the delivery of this plan.

The renewal of the vision and strategy for the Civil Service is another core part of our public service reform programme. Every day, civil servants perform many complex roles to support the Government and serve the public. These include advising on key policies, implementing major projects and programmes, delivering frontline services, representing Ireland's interests abroad and supporting regulation and oversight across a number of sectors. We sometimes take this support for granted but the creation of an impartial and non-partisan Civil Service remains one of the great achievements of this State. No institution of State is perfect and the Civil Service is no exception but I believe it played a key role in securing the continuity of this State as the previous Government imploded during its final months in office. Despite this, however, we have never before as a State placed due emphasis on giving civil servants a role in developing their own organisation. We have never asked them for a view on where the Civil Service should go and what it should become. As we look to the future, we must ensure the Civil Service is a strong and capable organisation that is equipped to address current and future challenges and bolstered by a work force that has the skills, capacity and tools to meet those challenges effectively.

The Civil Service renewal programme is identifying a clear vision for the Civil Service in the future and setting out practical and specific actions to make the vision a reality. We are looking at a range of areas where capacity and capability needs to be developed to meet the new challenges that we now face. These include leadership, change management, policy formation and implementation. This programme is being driven by a task force of civil servants and supported by all heads of Departments and offices. The focus over the coming months will be to discuss the future of the Civil Service with those inside and outside the system. In order to harness their knowledge and experience, every civil servant is being given the opportunity to give his or her views on what the Civil Service does well and what needs to change, and to participate fully in the renewal process. As well as participating in this process online, a series of town hall meetings are taking place across the country to brief civil servants on the issues being addressed and to seek their input and ideas. By gathering ideas from every office and every grade, I am confident that we can build a vision which is strategic but also motivating, and more important, builds on the long and proud tradition of an independent and impartial Civil Service committed to meeting Ireland's needs now and into the future. The initial feedback from this process has been hugely encouraging.

Hand in hand with opportunity goes accountability. Last month - separately from the reform plan, because it is very important in its own right - I published a consultation paper on strengthening Civil Service accountability and performance. This extensive publication and associated public consultation will assess how greater clarity, certainty and common understanding on the key issue of who is accountable to whom and for what in the Civil Service can be arrived at. It is important that we know what specific responsibility falls on a Minister and what specific accountability and responsibility falls on a particular civil servant in order to avoid the systemic failures we have seen so often in the past. We must have a much more accountable system of governance.

An independent panel on accountability, chaired by Professor Kevin Rafter of Dublin City University, has been established to manage and oversee the public consultation process, review submissions received and develop recommendations by the end of May. In addition, the panel will engage with key stakeholders within the political system and the Civil Service. We need to harness the potential of the Civil Service to learn from its successes and failures at both an individual and an organisational level.

I acknowledge the commitment and dedication of the Civil Service and the wider public service in delivering real and sustainable reform, reducing costs and improving services. As we embark on the next phase in the reform programme, the public service of the future must be more innovative, better integrated, more strategic and more customer- or citizen-focused. Achieving these goals will not be easy, and many challenges lie ahead. I remain convinced, however, that my fellow public servants will once again show their commitment to the reform process as we build a new public service that is better for citizens, businesses, public servants themselves and Irish society as a whole.