Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 279: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the benefits which accrued from benchmarking with regard to the services provided to the general public by his Department. [40875/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Public Service Benchmarking Body was established under the terms of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF). The first Report was issued in June 2002 and a second Report was issued in December 2007. The pay recommendations were based on an evaluation and comparison of the jobs and pay of public servants with jobs of comparable responsibility in the private sector. Under its terms of reference, the Body was required, when reaching its recommendations, to have regard to the need to ensure ongoing modernisation of the public service.

The first phase of the Benchmarking increases was implemented retrospectively with effect from 1 December 2001, in accordance with the December 2000 Pay Adjustment to the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF). Under the terms of the Social Partnership Agreement 2003-2005 Sustaining Progress, the payment of the final two phases of the Benchmarking increases were dependent on verification of satisfactory progress in regard to co-operation with flexibility and ongoing change, satisfactory implementation of the agenda for modernisation set out in the Agreement, and maintenance of stable industrial relations.

The Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, the Sustaining Progress Partnership Agreement and the current Partnership Agreement Towards 2016, have all provided for improvements with respect to the more efficient use of financial, staff and I.T. resources, enhanced customer service, better staff training and development, further development of partnership, regulatory reform and commitments in the area of equality of opportunity. Comprehensive details of the achievements which have been made in the modernisation programme can be found at www.cspvg.gov.ie.

These achievements and their underlying principles have been carried through in the modernisation and change agenda in my Department and its associated offices with consequential benefits for the improvement of services provided to the general public including — (i) Increased accountability and reform of the Garda Síochána through the implementation of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 and the establishment of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, Garda Inspectorate and joint policing committees at local level. The number of full and part time civilian staff assigned to An Garda Síochána as at 31 March 2008 has increased to 2,461, thereby releasing further Gardaí to visible front-line policing duties in the community. (ii) The development of a Financial Shared Services Centre in the Department involving new organisation structures, payment systems, business processes and information technology enabling payroll and other payment services to be provided for other Government Departments. My Department provides the full range of back-office financial services for the Department of Tourism and Sport, Department of the Taoiseach, the National Library, the National Museum and the National Gallery, as well as the Justice Sector. (iii) The establishment of the Irish Youth Justice Service and the publication of a National Youth Justice Strategy aimed at improving co-ordination and strategic linkage of services, especially at local level, to deliver services for children in trouble with the law. (iv) Continued modernisation and reform of the Irish Prison Service (IPS) through the improvement of physical infrastructure, prison procedures and work processes. (v) Re-organisation of the Probation Service towards more focussed delivery of services involving assessment and management of offenders in the community thereby helping to increase public safety. (vi) The volume of business conducted by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) has grown significantly in recent years with a dramatic change from illegal to legal migration. For example, the number of Visa applications has risen from about 50,000 in 2000 to about 150,000 last year. A change management process is in place which involves restructuring of the organisation and redistribution of resources. This is aimed at ensuring that the Immigration Residence and Protection Bill can be implemented effectively once enacted, that major IT projects currently underway are delivered within budget and on time and that service provision is enhanced across the organisation including improved opening hours and provision of visa application services on-line. (vii) Over the period in question my Department has established a number of dedicated executive offices/ organisations to improve policy co-ordination and service delivery in a number of important areas such as Cosc (the National Office for the Prevention of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence), a dedicated Executive Office dealing with the issue of Anti Human -Trafficking and the Private Security Authority.

Further details of my Department's Modernisation Action Plans, drawn up under the terms of the social partnership agreements, and the reports of the Civil Service Performance Verification Group (CSPVG) are available at www.cspvg.gov.ie . The role of the CSPVG is to verify progress at sectoral, organisational and grade level in the Civil Service in accordance with the procedures outlined in Section 33 of Towards 2016.