Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 216: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding the Civil Service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34008/11]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Programme for Government includes a comprehensive range of commitments in relation to Public Service Reform. Notwithstanding developments to-date, the cost of delivering public services must be reduced further, with fewer staff and tighter budgets, and the Public Service must become better integrated and more customer-focused, as well as being leaner and more efficient.

Implementation of the Public Service reform programme is a key priority for this Government and a detailed Public Service Reform Plan is being developed by my Department which encompasses the commitments to Public Service Reform in the Programme for Government and priority areas from the existing Transforming Public Services programme. The issues to be addressed in the reform programme will, of course, also be informed by the Comprehensive Review of Expenditure across all Government Departments, the results of which will be published shortly.

This Plan, which is due to be published next Thursday, outlines the priority actions and timelines for reform in a broad range of areas such as business process improvement, eGovernment, shared services, procurement, legislative change, etc. and a number of actions in these and other areas are already underway. It also focuses on actions to improve performance by organisations and individuals to ensure greater efficiency, effectiveness and economy.

This Plan will ensure a renewed focus on organisational performance through initiatives such as Strategy Statements, performance budgeting and enhanced reporting of performance and progress, the Organisational Review Programme and legislative change to clarify accountability arrangements, to name but some.

There will also be a strong focus on individual performance to improve capacity and capability across the Public Service including a strong focus on leadership skills through the Senior Public Service (SPS). Staff development and performance at all levels across the Public Service will be enhanced, through the implementation and consolidation of performance management systems.

The Plan also sets out how implementation should be driven and monitored. The organisations and individuals that have responsibility for implementing this Plan will regularly report on progress to the Cabinet Committee on Public Service Reform, which is chaired by the Taoiseach and which I convene.

My Department has been given a clear mandate to drive and enable Public Service Reform, and the focus now is on the key reforms required, and how and in what sequence they will be implemented. In this context, a dedicated Public Service Reform and Delivery Office has been established within the Department to facilitate, drive and support the reform programme. The Reform and Delivery Office is being led by a recently appointed Programme Director who is working closely with organisations across the Public Service, to enable them drive the delivery of reform at a local level, as well as lead on cross cutting reform issue s.