John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Question 41: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the discussions he has had with the Croke Park Agreement implementation body. [20297/11]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I took the opportunity to meet the Chair and members of the Croke Park Implementation Body on 23rd March last, in one of my earliest engagements as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. It was a useful opportunity to learn at first hand about the issues arising in the context of implementing the Croke Park Agreement. I was also able to brief the Body on plans to establish the new Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Government's Comprehensive Review of Expenditure. I met with the Body again on Wednesday 29th June last, together with the Taoiseach. We had a constructive engagement on the key issues relating to driving the reform agenda across the public service. The meeting was a timely one in view of the recent publication of the Body's first report on progress under the Agreement.

While we welcomed the tangible progress that has been made in the first year, we were clear on the need for an acceleration of progress over the coming months. This is something the Implementation Body themselves have acknowledged in their Report. We also emphasised the need to build on the flexibilities already agreed to in the Croke Park Agreement. This is absolutely critical in view of the challenges facing the public service which will need to manage with substantially less resources and significantly fewer staff - while at the same time protecting services to business and to citizens, including the most vulnerable in our society. We made clear that the Government wishes to honour the commitments given in the Agreement but that this will only be possible if the Agreement is implemented in full. I intend to keep in close contact with the Implementation Body as it pursues its work over the coming months and I look forward to further significant progress over the next reporting period.