Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Question 309: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his Department has carried out an efficiency savings analysis with a view to cutting out unnecessary costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30535/07]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Strong systems and financial controls are in place across my Department to ensure efficiency and value for money in both Vote 28 (Foreign Affairs) and Vote 29 (International Cooperation).

My Department is committed to completing and publishing five major Value for Money reviews in the period 2006-2008. Two of these, dealing with funding for emigrant services and the Government's response to the Tsunami, have been completed and published. A further report, on Ireland's official development assistance to Mozambique, will be published shortly and a fourth, on the Passport Service, is nearing completion. The final Value for Money review in this cycle will be on expenditure in the fight against HIV/AIDS in developing countries; a tender process is currently underway to identify a suitable company to conduct the review. All of these reports, when completed, are laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas and sent to the relevant Select Committee.

More broadly, my Department has established a Procurement Management Unit which is responsible for promoting a strategic approach to the achievement of value for money by (a) integrating value for money principles within the Department's management processes; (b) developing and implementing an annual Corporate Procurement Plan for the Department; and (c) promoting best procurement and project management practices throughout the Department.

The preparation of the Department's Corporate Procurement Plan involves a detailed analysis of purchasing expenditure for the purpose of identifying specific areas where better value for money outcomes and efficiencies can be achieved by improved purchasing practices. The Plan identifies actions such as aggregation of requirements which may be used in appropriate cases to enhance the Department's purchasing power and thereby achieve better value from suppliers. For example, the Department currently avails of aggregated arrangements, along with other Government Departments, for air travel booking services and the purchase of desktop computers and I understand that these arrangements have yielded significant financial benefits and administrative efficiencies.

In addition, in the design and implementation of the new biometric passports, my Department was one of the first participants in the public sector-wide peer review system for the management of major ICT projects, which helps ensure that cost and time targets are realistic and achievable.

Under the Management Information Framework, which is a key element of the Government's Strategic Management Initiative, my Department has implemented a range of measures to ensure more efficient financial transactions and more effective under the Management Information Framework, which is a key element of the Government's Strategic Management Initiative, my Department has implemented a range of measures to ensure more efficient financial transactions and more effective use of resources, as well as to assist decision-making about resource allocation. These include new budgeting and financial systems and the preparation of detailed financial procedures manuals for both Vote 28 and Vote 29.

As is the case for all Government Departments, the new Strategy Statement currently under preparation in my Department will set out performance indicators against which our progress in achieving our goals can be measured. Combined with increasing delegation of budgetary responsibility to Heads of Divisions, this means that we are better able to align our resource allocations to our business objectives. These measures, together with a rigorous approach by line managers on an ongoing basis, ensures that the Department's financial resources are used efficiently and effectively, in line with the Government's policy priorities.