Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 174: To ask the Minister for Finance the steps that have been taken to achieve a unified public service labour market since the publication of Building Ireland's Smart Economy - A Framework for Sustainable Economic Renewal 2009 to 2014. [17632/09]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Since the publication of the Report "Building Ireland's Smart Economy A Framework for Sustainable Economic Renewal" and the Report of The Task Force on the Public Service, the Government has established a Cabinet Committee, chaired by the Taoiseach and a Steering Group of Secretaries General, to support the work of the Cabinet Committee. The Cabinet Committee has held three meetings to date and has set in train a programme of work based on the ambitious timelines recommended by the Task Force. In addition a Programme Office has been put in place in the Department of the Taoiseach to support the work of the task based groups established to address the cross-cutting issues arising.

The Task Force recommended that the Government should create a Public Service made up of a single flexible labour market and talent pool. There should be a facility to redeploy staff across sectoral boundaries to areas of greatest priority. It also recommended that a senior public service should be created as an enabler for the development and mobility of leaders across the public service. The Cabinet Committee is advancing all of these recommendations with a focus on locating staff where they are most needed to improve customer service.

Addressing the particular issue of a unified labour market, the Government recognises that the ability to deploy public servants effectively and efficiently across the system, to areas of greatest need, is critical to cost savings and efficiency across the public sector. In the light of the constraints on the public finances and in particular the moratorium on recruitment and promotion across the public sector, there is a critical need to maximise the use of existing resources and to develop appropriate redeployment mechanisms. I announced in Budget 2009 a programme of rationalisations of state agencies as a first step in an ongoing programme of agency rationalisation and reform. In addition the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes that I established to review public service staffing levels and spending, will report in June. The report of the Group will help to identify the scope for moving staff across the public service to areas of greatest priority.