Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide a comprehensive list of the shared services initiatives delivered by his Department since it was set up and the corresponding monetary savings to the Exchequer associated with each of the initiatives listed for 2012 and projected saving for 2013. [56481/12]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The shared services programme is making good progress on actions and timelines committed to in the Public Service Reform Plan,and key developments include the following:

- A Shared Services Transformation Unit has been established within my Department.

- A financial appraisal of the Human Resource function across the Civil Service undertaken earlier this year indicates that implementing a shared service for transactional HR activities in the Civil Service will save around 26% in annual HR FTE costs and reduce the headcount in HR by around 17%, a saving of €12.5m per annum. We expect the Civil Service HR and Pension Administration Shared Service Centre will be fully established in 2014 and the forecasted savings will be €12.5m per annum.

- Preparation for the implementation of this Civil Service Human Resources and Pension Administration Shared Services Centre is well underway. The project team are preparing for the transition of the first tranche of departments in Spring, 2013. The location of the new HR and Pension Administration Shared Service Centre is Clonskeagh; the Head of HR and Pension Administration Shared Service Centre has been recruited; and the selection of staff for the initial service is advanced with staff being released on a phased basis from Departments and Agencies.

- Payroll services administered by the Civil Service have been baselined and a business case to drive greater efficiencies and improved payroll services through Payroll Shared Services is well advanced.

- A project to gather data to baseline current Civil Service Finance Management and Banking activities has commenced.

- A high level review of procurement has been conducted and the appointment of a Chief Procurement Officer has been completed.

- The Shared Services Transformation Unit in my Department is working with nominated senior officials to ensure that ambitious and robust plans are developed and implemented in the other key sectors of Health, Education, Justice, Defence and Local Government.

As each specific shared service project is progressed and approved, specific costings and benefits will be monitored against the benefits forecasted in each business case. As services migrate to a shared services entity, the administrative costs and posts attached to the delivery of those activities in the organisation will be reduced in level accordingly. Detailed arrangements for the transition of budgets and resources will be developed during the design and implementation phases of individual projects.

Overall, I am satisfied with the progress being made. A robust transformation plan is being implemented for the Civil Service and the Shared Services Transformation Unit is working with nominated senior officials to ensure that similar plans and approaches are being taken in other key sectors.

We are building the appropriate expertise, engaging with each key Department in a structured way and ensuring that decisions will be based on strong evidentiary platforms derived from baselines and business cases. International experience shows that this is the best way to realise maximum benefits from shared services over time. Therefore it is not possible at this stage to provide information on actual savings made at this time.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform following his announcement in September 2012 of his intention to set up a new National Procurement Office within his Department, the date by which this new office will be fully operational; the targeted savings for 2013 arising from the new office noting that a recent report of the Central Procurement Function estimated that implementation of its recommendations over a three year period could yield potential annual savings in the range of €249 million to €637 million depending on the approach taken; if this new office will have responsibility for procurement across the public service or will it be limited to the civil service. [56482/12]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Government’s Public Service Reform Plan sets out a comprehensive and ambitious programme of reform for the Public Service, including a range of commitments to deliver greater value for money in public procurement, which is one of the Major Projects of key strategic importance.

Earlier this year, as part of our drive for greater value for money and increased efficiency, my Department commissioned a capacity and capability review of the central procurement function to identify the actions required to realise substantial savings in public procurement in the short and medium term.

Approximately €9 billion is spent by public bodies annually on the public procurement of supplies and services, and the review estimated that €7 billion of this is "addressable spend". As the Deputy is aware, the review also estimated that implementation of its recommendations, over a three-year period, could yield potential annual savings in the range of €249 million to €637 million, depending on the approach taken.

One of the key outcomes of the review, which was published in September, was a decision by the Government to establish a National Procurement Office under the aegis of my Department, and that this Office should be headed by a Chief Procurement Officer. I am pleased to advise the Deputy that, following an open recruitment competition, Mr. Paul Quinn has been appointed as Chief Procurement Officer to lead the establishment of the National Procurement Office and the new approach to public procurement. Mr. Quinn will commence his work at end January 2013.

Our new approach to public procurement will also involve:

- integrating procurement policy, strategy and operations in one office;

- strengthening spend analytics and data management;

- much greater aggregation of purchasing across public bodies to achieve better value for money;

- examining the specifications set out for goods and services;

- evaluating demand levels to assess how demand can be reduced; and

- strengthening vendor and category management.

I want to emphasise the fact that the National Procurement Office will play a lead role in procurement policy, strategy and operations right across the Public Service. Public procurement is a very significant portion of overall spending and it is essential that the Public Service as a whole is achieving maximum value for money and operational efficiency in this regard.

The Office is being established on an administrative basis on 1 January, 2013 and a detailed Implementation Plan, which will include savings targets informed by the external review, will be submitted to Government by the end of Quarter 1, 2013.