Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 134: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the tangible results that have been delivered in her Department through the implementation of the Croke Park Agreement; the implementation plan in place in her Department to ensure reforms envisaged through this agreement are delivered on; if she is satisfied with the pace of reform in her Department and the agencies under her remit; the further reforms the taxpayer and Irish citizens may expect to witness in the running of her Department and its agencies through the public sector reform agenda; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31585/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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My Department's Action Plan, and those of the agencies under the aegis of my Department, namely the Citizens Information Board and the Pensions Board, were prepared in January 2010, having regard to the economic and budgetary environment at that time. My Department subsequently prepared a single integrated Action Plan in January 2012 which encompassed the actions to be taken forward by my Department as well as those key actions being proposed by each of the agencies under its remit and which took account of the Programme for Government, the Comprehensive Review of Expenditure and Budget 2012 and the Public Service Reform Plan.

Three reviews of the implementation of the agreement, as requested by the Implementation Body, were undertaken by my Department and the agencies under its aegis, in respect of the progress and savings achieved for the periods January 2010 to March 2011, April 2011 to September 2011 and October 2011 to March 2012. The following is a summary of the main outcomes identified in those exercises:

· Organisational change and integration in my Department:

o Full transfer of 1,033 Community Welfare Staff on 1st October 2011.

o Successfully delivered the commitment in the Programme for Government to transfer 758 staff and services from FÁS Employment Services in January 2012.

o Full integration of the Redundancy and Insolvency Scheme from the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Innovation; the Rural Social Scheme and the Community Services Programme and the Office of Social Inclusion from the Department of Community Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs.

· Significant savings were achieved under the following initiatives:

o New administrative arrangements were introduced in 2011 for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance scheme which had previously been administered by the Community Welfare Service. Administrative savings of approximately €1 million were achieved by having applications processed by a centralised unit in my Department's office in Letterkenny.

o Further savings of €2.43m were achieved by my Department, and the agencies under its aegis, between January 2010 and March 2012 through administrative efficiencies and process re-organisation.

o Claim processing volumes increased by 13% in 2011 (2.35m claims cleared) while backlogs were reduced by 9%.

· Greater numbers of staff are being serviced by central support areas without proportional increases in staff numbers, following the transfers of functions outlined above. For example, the ratio of HR Management staff to overall staff has increased from 1:66 to 1:76 since 2010.

· The Department now provides data matching services for up to 80 other agencies and, jointly with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, provides life event notifications to over 50 agencies.

· The phased introduction of the Public Services Card commenced October 3rd 2011.

· Several new IT systems have been developed and implemented to cater for improved customer service with faster claim processing times, increased level of information provision and query handling processes.

The Department is committed to meeting the objectives of the Public Service Reform Plan published by the Department of Public Expenditure & Reform on 17th November 2011. A high level integrated reform delivery plan has been developed, outlining the key Departmental milestones under the various reform programmes and containing a wide range of organisational specific reform commitments, as well as cross-cutting elements of reform. The integrated plan aligns key elements from the Programme for Government, the Comprehensive Review of Expenditure and the Public Service (Croke Park) Agreement.

Full implementation of the Department's Action Plan requires major organisational change, involving changes in structures, business processes, administrative, operating and governance systems, practices and procedures, supported by significant human resource and ICT changes. All targets to the end of March 2012 have been met and all actions are on schedule for delivery in accordance with the specified timeframes.

The Citizens Information Board (CIB) has commenced a Single Point of Initial Telephone Contact project which aims to create a single point of telephone contact for the citizen for CIB and its delivery partners, namely the Citizens Information Services, Money Advice and Budgeting Service, and the National Advocacy Service. CIB also implemented a new regional structure and introduced an advocacy service.

The Pensions Board introduced a new on-line data portal for pension schemes which went live in February 2011. The system facilitates the payment of fees, processing of scheme amendments, scheme registrations, submission of annual scheme information returns and the annual renewal of Registered Administrators renewals.

I am satisfied that the Department is striving to provide an effective service to its customers in the most efficient manner that can reasonably be achieved and is fully committed to delivering on the Action Plan in order to secure service improvements and efficiencies.