Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 23: To ask the Minister for Finance the changes in work practices which he sought to negotiate as part of the national social partnership talks. [38795/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Towards 2016 is a ten year framework agreement which sets out an agenda for the further modernisation of the Public Service. It commits the parties to the Agreement to continued co-operation with change and modernisation initiatives, as well as improved productivity across the Public Service.

In approaching the recent Partnership talks the Government recognised that while significant progress has been made in advancing the modernisation agenda, many more changes are needed. There must be a more customer-focused approach to the delivery of public services and a greater emphasis on efficiency and value for money. Accordingly, the Agreement recognises that the Public Service must review continuously its systems, processes and procedures to ensure that it is responsive and efficient and that it provides high quality, value for money services. Specifically, the parties acknowledge the requirement for developing the range of service delivery options, for utilising shared services in areas such as HR, ICT and financial management and for developing cross-organisational solutions as a way of addressing problems of service delivery on a 'whole of Government' basis.

The Government was also mindful of the recommendations of the OECD Review of the Public Service, Towards an Integrated Public Service, which concluded that we are on a sound trajectory of modernisation but could further improve the yield from reforms. The parties to the Agreement commit themselves to implementation of the basic principles emerging from the OECD report. The Government has established a Task Force to develop an Action Plan for the Public Service taking account of the recommendations of the OECD Review. The report of the Task Force will be considered by the Government shortly.