Written answers
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Department of Finance
Departmental Reports
11:00 pm
Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 178: To ask the Minister for Finance the list of all proposals in the Report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure relating to his Department or to bodies or agencies under his remit which have been implemented to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13884/10]
Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy is aware the report of the Special Group on Public Numbers and Expenditure Programmes outlined a wide range of proposals across all departments, a number of which can only be achieved through restructuring over a number of years. The implementation of the proposals for my Department and the Offices under its aegis is ongoing, and initial progress has been made in this regard in Budget 2010.
The Special Group also made a number of cross-cutting recommendations in relation to initiatives such as procurement reform, shared services, greater focus on performance and outputs and strengthening of multi-annual budgeting arrangements. The consideration and progression of these recommendations is being coordinated by the Department of Finance in the broader context of the Transforming Public Services agenda.
The proposals recommended for my Department and the Offices under its aegis, together with an update on the status of these proposals, are set out in the tables.
| Office/Other | Group's recommendation | Status |
| Office of the Minister for Finance | General administration and programme efficiencies including staff reductions of 60 over four years, €5.0m | Completed |
| Office of the Minister for Finance | Administrative savings in the IPA and the ESRI resulting in reduced grants in aid | Completed |
| Office of the Minister for Finance | Potential to develop shared services (salaries, pensions, accounts, HR) | In progress |
| Office of the Minister for Finance | Further scaling-back and re-prioritisation of capital expenditure. | In progress |
| Office of the Minister for Finance | A uniform Public Service Numbers Policy. | In progress |
| Cross-cutting | Implementation of measures in the Green Paper on Pensions | In progress |
| Strategic | Medium-term envelopes | In progress |
| Strategic | Strategic objectives for the new NPPPOU. | In progress |
| Strategic | Prepare legislation to centralise the management of State property in OPW | In progress |
| Strategic | Updated and enhanced guidelines for acquisition, management, sale and inter-agency transfer of property. | In progress |
| Strategic | Centralised shared approaches to ICT services and data centre facilities, IT Advisory Group. | In progress |
| Strategic | Pension policy should be adjusted to take account of future pension liabilities to the state. | In progress |
| Strategic | Public Service Performance Charter | In progress |
| Strategic | Development and enhancement of IT skills | In progress |
| Office of the Minister for Finance | Enhanced VFM & Policy Reviews & Possible role for the C&AG in auditing or verifying the Annual Output Statements | Under consideration |
| Office of the Minister for Finance | New benchmarking process. | Under consideration |
| Cross-cutting | Monitor performance against objectives of NPPPOU | Under consideration |
| Cross-cutting | Estimates should be produced on a programme-by-programme basis. | Under consideration |
| Cross-cutting | All regulators to submit budgets to the DoF | Under consideration |
| Office | Group's recommendation | Status |
| State Laboratory | Sharing of services with HSE laboratories. | The proposal was examined but will not be implemented. |
| Valuation Office | Administrative efficiencies in the Valuation Office | In progress |
| Ombudsman | Consider undertaking investigative functions at lower grading levels, Amalgamate ombudsmen/regulators offices into the Office of the Ombudsman. | Under consideration |
| Public Appointments Service | Reduce Expenditure by 20%, Reduce large volume recruitment, Rationalise senior executive recruitment, Deferral of selected research projects and staff efficiencies, Improve the efficiency of recruitment, Staff reductions | In progress, staffing levels reduced by 31% and Vote reduced by 34%. |
| C&AG | Merge the Local Government Audit Service within the aegis of the C&AG | Under consideration |
| C&AG | Make legislative changes to ensure that significant public expenditure is audited by the C&AG. | Under consideration |
| Appeals Commissioner | Publish decisions of Appeal Commissioners electronically. | Under consideration |
| Valuation Office | Merge the Valuation Office (VO) and the Ordnance Survey of Ireland (OSI) with the Property Registration Authority (PRA) | The merits/demerits of the proposed merger are being assessed. |
| Commission for Public Service Appointments | Potential to merge the Office of the Commission for Public Service Appointments with the Office of the Ombudsman, Reduce staff numbers | In progress |
| Office of Public Works | Spare capacity should be reduced | In progress |
| Office of Public Works | Benchmark rents & occupancy levels with private sector rates | In progress |
| Office of Public Works | Introduce a moratorium on the state providing car parking spaces in urban areas | Under consideration (no new spaces being taken) |
| Office of Public Works | Identify the State's real estate portfolio | Under consideration |
| Office of Public Works | Outsource engineering and architectural activities | Ongoing |
| Office of the Revenue Commissioners | IT efficiencies | In progress. A number of measures have been taken including e-Stamping. |
| Office of the Revenue Commissioners | Efficient use of consumables | Completed |
| Office of the Revenue Commissioners | Savings in legal services | Completed |
| Office of the Revenue Commissioners | Review the number of regional office locations | In progress – a number have been closed and others are under review |
| Office of the Revenue Commissioners | Examine scope for further efficiencies | Savings substantially achieved. One further option under review. |
| Office of the Revenue Commissioners | Associated reduction in staff numbers | Completed |
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