Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 237: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the tangible results that have been delivered in his Department through the implementation of the Croke Park Agreement; the implementation plan in place in his Department to ensure reforms envisaged through this agreement are delivered on; if he is satisfied with the pace of reform in his Department and the agencies under his remit; the further reforms the taxpayer and Irish citizens may expect to witness in the running of his Department and its agencies through the public sector reform agenda; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31571/12]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The structured framework provided by the Croke Park Action Plan has been instrumental in achieving significant saving in administrative expenditure by the Department while maintaining and improving service quality. These savings have centred on a reduction in staff numbers and overtime, local office reorganisation, improved work practices, centralisation of procurement, increased use of shared services, the promotion of on-line services and a reduction of inspection costs.

In the past 3 years the Department's staff numbers have reduced by 550 or 14%. In the same period the Department's Non-Commercial State Agencies saw a reduction in staff numbers of 224 or 12%. Overtime payments have reduced by some 10%.

Some of the major factors facilitating staff and administrative saving in the Department arise from the local office reorganisation project. This project involved the comprehensive restructuring of the Department's public office network, the closure of 42 offices and their replacement by 16 enhanced regional offices. Saving arising from this initiative, as calculated and independently verified by Grant Thornton, amount to €79.6 million to end of March 2012 - €61.9 million of which is attributable since the beginning of the Croke Park Agreement.

The Department conducted a detailed review of its procurement procedures, which was subsequently validated by Accenture. As a consequence of this review the Department established a Central Procurement Unit which will monitor and advise on procurement expenditure and ensure procurement throughout the Department is conducted in a co-ordinated and strategic manner and achieves optimum value for money.

The Department is now providing a range of shared services facilities including: full ICT infrastructure support to the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and different levels of ICT shared services to Teagasc, Bord Bia, Bord Iascaigh Mhara and the Sea Fisheries Protection Agency. The Department has also agreed to provide the Department of the Taoiseach with a new ICT service on a shared services basis and has carried out a range of inspections for the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.

The number of on-line Single Payment Scheme applications has increased from 43,465 in 2010 to 54, 372 in 2011, an increase of 25%. The Department has introduced on-line mapping into its 2012 iNet release - allowing farmers or their agents to submit maps on-line thereby giving immediate effect to amendments and dispensing with the need to submit papers maps

The Department has designated its Management Services Division to lead its response to public sector reform, specifically to monitor, drive and report on the Department's PSA Action Plan and to lead and co-ordinate the Department's response to, and participation in, Department of Public Expenditure and Reform led initiatives arising from the Public Sector Reform Plan. In addition, progress on the Departments PSA Action Plan is monitored on a quarterly basis by an internal implementation steering group chaired by the SG.

The Department is committed to a process of ongoing reforms which include Teagasc rationalisation which when completed will see the number of its advisory offices reduce from 91 to 51, improved staff attendance patterns, further non pay savings arising from procurement efficiencies, and further efficiencies arising from a programme for increased staff flexibility, and a continued programme of internal reviews. To date such reviews have been instrumental in reducing staffing levels from 4,800 in 2005 to just over 3,500 currently – a reduction of 27% while the cost of running the Department has fallen by €60 million or approximately 20% since 2008.

Finally, the continuing development of on-line service is targeted at increasing AIM uptake among herd owners from 12,500 to 25,000 by 2014 and to increase SPS uptake among applicants by 25% in the same period.