Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 142: To ask the Minister for Finance the position regarding the implementation of the Croke Park deal on pay and reform in the public service and, in particular, to provide details of the progress made to date on securing efficiencies and savings across the public service. [38035/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Public Service Agreement 2010 - 2014, or Croke Park Agreement, provided for the establishment of an Implementation Body to oversee progress on the implementation of the agreed transformation measures across the Public Service. Mr. P.J. Fitzpatrick, was appointed in July as independent chairman of the Implementation Body with 3 nominees each from Public Service Management and the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions respectively.

The Implementation Body in its regular meetings has concentrated on establishing the sectoral implementation bodies provided for under the Agreement and on reviewing the sectoral Action Plans which have been submitted by each Government Department. These plans inform the Implementation Body on the significant changes proposed by public service management to achieve the reforms, efficiencies and savings needed in each sector.

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.

The Agreement provides a sustainable framework to manage the provision and delivery of our essential public services in a period of unprecedented pressure on public resources. 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 09, resulting in significant savings in the public service paybill.