John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Question 527: To ask the Minister for Finance the action taken by him from the date of acceptance of the Croke Park agreement to establish cost saving measures; if all aspects of the deal are now being complied with; the changes made in his Department relative to the agreement; if staff numbers have been affected; if staff have been transferred from his Department or recruited from other Departments; the amount of savings achieved because of the agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34082/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I am happy that substantial progress is being made on implementation of the Public Service Agreement 2010 to 2014 (Croke Park Agreement) and that all the terms of the Agreement are currently being complied with within the civil service. In particular, the Agreement has resulted in the cessation of industrial action and a number of the instruments indicated in the Agreement for the civil service, including the redeployment arrangements, are now in place. That will facilitate the redeployment of any staff who become surplus for any reason across Government Departments.

After its ratification in July, Mr P J Fitzpatrick was appointed, along with nominees each from public service management and the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to the Implementation Body. That Body will review the implementation of the transformation agenda for each sector with the relevant management and unions. It will also be responsible for verifying savings derived from the implementation of the Agreement and its sectoral components in the context of the review of public service pay proposed next year.

Since its establishment, the Body has concentrated on the implementation of the Agreement, including putting in place strong structures at sectoral level and seeking from public service management their action plans for the implementation of the provisions of the Agreement. The plans, due for submission this week, will form an initial template for the implementation of the terms of the sectoral agreements which form part of the overall Agreement and set out a clear agenda for change within each sector, including within Government Departments. It is intended that these action plans will develop in a dynamic way over the four year period the Agreement, in the context of Government policy on budgetary and other matters. The Government is determined that public service management will be proactive and ambitious in delivering on the full range of productivity and change measures envisaged in the Agreement, and accepted as necessary by all parties to it. Strong oversight by the Implementation Body will be an important factor in this.

Government policy on staff numbers in the public service is reflected in employment control frameworks for each sector of the public service. In this regard, the Exchequer Pay Bill is estimated to reduce by 8% in 2010 over 2009 while the number of public servants has reduced by almost 11,000 since March 2009. However, the efficiencies and other measures arising from the Agreement provide a sustainable framework to manage the provision and delivery of our essential public services with reductions in public service numbers and in a period of unprecedented pressure on resources.