Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 29: To ask the Minister for Finance if he has developed a strategy for restructuring the public service to deliver significant savings in order that front line services will be protected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24716/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Government's strategy for change in the Public Service is set out in its statement, Transforming Public Services. Transforming Public Services built on the recommendations of the OECD Review of the Irish Public Service and report of the Task Force on the Public Service. Its overall theme is a more integrated Public Service having greater connectivity and linkages across Departments and agencies to deliver an improved level of performance for customers together with greater connectivity. The Transformation agenda is being headed by a Cabinet Committee chaired by the Taoiseach, and Minister of State Calleary has been given responsibility for driving the Transformation Agenda.

Transforming Public Services puts the citizen and the delivery of front line services at the centre of our public services. It presents a blueprint for a cohesive Public Service, focused on common goals, with greater co-operation and reduced boundaries between sectors, organisations and professions. The focus is on a much greater integration of services around user needs and far greater efficiency in internal data sharing and administration through shared service models aimed at achieving significant savings. Transforming Public Services also envisages a more flexible labour market and talent pool with a facility to redeploy staff across sectoral boundaries to areas of greatest priority.

The Croke Park Agreement provides a shared vision of how the Transformation agenda will be implemented. Like Transforming Public Services, the Agreement recognises that a more integrated Public Service that is leaner, more effective and more focused on the needs of the citizen is required to contribute to the process of returning Ireland to economic growth and prosperity. In the context of reduced numbers and resources, the Public Service will be reorganised and Public Servants will show greater flexibility and mobility in working across traditional boundaries.