Written answers

Tuesday, 5 February 2008

Department of Finance

Social Partnership

9:00 pm

Photo of Arthur MorganArthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 217: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the steps that have been taken to achieve better value for money in public service delivery, proposed in Towards 2016 with a view to minimising the effect of the public service pay agreement on inflation. [3518/08]

Photo of Brian CowenBrian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The implementation of the modernisation agenda has been, and continues to be, driven by the various social partnership agreements across the public service. The current social partnership agreement, Towards 2016, builds on the progress made under previous agreements and ensures continued co-operation with change and modernisation initiatives as well as improvements in productivity right across the Public Service. It provides an important framework for meeting the economic and social challenges ahead and builds on previous achievements in areas such as quality customer services, better management of performance, better financial and human resource management, and greater flexibility and openness to change.

Critically, Towards 2016 sets out a mechanism for the verification of progress at sectorial, organisational and grade level in the Public Service through the establishment of a Performance Verification Group for each of the sectors — health, education and local authority sectors, and the Garda Síochána and Defence Forces. Under the terms of Towards 2016, payment of each of the public service pay increases is dependent on verification of satisfactory achievement in relation to co-operation with flexibility and ongoing change, including co-operation with satisfactory implementation of the agenda for modernisation set out in the Agreement, maintenance of stable industrial relations and the absence of industrial action in respect of any matters covered by the Agreement.

The requirement for staff at all levels in the public service to be multi-skilled and flexible is fundamental to the capacity of the civil and public service to deal with the challenging new issues and areas of work created by economic, societal and technological change. In particular, these skills are necessary prerequisites for delivering services in a joined up and integrated way. This means that the civil and public service must increase its focus on the nature and balance of skill mix required.

We have increased the focus on performance and accountability at organisational level and for managers at all levels across the civil service. At the level of the organization, there is now a requirement that annual output statements be submitted to the Oireachtas, along with the annual estimate. This is aimed at clearly linking resources with outputs and outcomes, and demands a rigorous approach to the management of all resources across the civil service.

We have good quality public services and many improvements have been made in recent years but the agenda for change, for enhancing the efficiency of public services and the quality of service to our citizens, is not a static one. It needs to be regularly reviewed and adapted as needs and demands change.

We are taking a range of initiatives in this regard: the efficiency reviews of public service organisations announced in the Budget, the study by the OECD to benchmark the public service in Ireland against other comparable countries and to make recommendations as to future directions for public service reform, and the programme of organisational reviews to examine the capability of individual Departments and Agencies to meet their current service delivery requirements and to deal effectively with future changes in direction and new challenges.

Pay settlements must reflect the economic fundamentals. With strong economic growth and productivity increasing strongly, as we experienced over the last decade, there was scope for greater flexibility in the level of pay increases. Pay developments in the period immediately ahead must reflect the more challenging economic and competitiveness scenario that we now face and be more directly linked to changes in productivity.

The current public service pay agreement under Towards 2016 expires in September 2008 and talks on a new agreement are due to commence soon. Public service pay levels can only increase at a rate that is consistent with budgetary discipline and national competitiveness. In addition the productivity and efficiency of the public service needs to be improved on an ongoing basis.

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