Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 110: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the method of evaluating expenditure on initiatives which are in place in her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34214/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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My Department approaches the evaluation of its programmes and initiatives in a number of different ways.

One of these is the formal Government programme of Value for Money Reviews, formerly called Expenditure Reviews, in which my Department participates. The objectives of these reviews, which were introduced in 1997, are to analyse Exchequer spending in a systematic manner and to provide a basis on which more informed policy and expenditure decisions can be made.

Value for Money Reviews are one of a range of modernisation initiatives aimed at moving public sector management away from the traditional focus on inputs to concentrate more on the achievement of results. They are organised on the basis of three year planning periods. The current programme of reviews is scheduled to be completed in the 2006-2008 period.

A critical component of my Department's approach to evaluation is the work of the Evaluation Support and Research Unit of the Inspectorate, which focuses on educational outcomes. The Unit co-ordinates periodic evaluations of the quality of educational provision in primary and post-primary schools and centres for education. The approach to conducting these evaluations usually involves collection of data about student achievement levels and observation in classrooms by inspectors to determine the quality of learning and teaching. Interviews and meetings are also held with key stakeholders in the relevant schools and centres for education.

Over and above this, my Department, through its line management divisions, examines particular issues, programmes and elements of programmes to inform changed approaches. This forms part of the general obligation on public sector managers to ensure that State funds are utilised in an efficient and effective manner.