Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will report on the peoplepoint project; if he will outline what the project will entail and the way in which the human resources function will be changed in the public sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17739/13]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Public Service Reform Plan (November 2011) identified the implementation of shared services as a major element in the Reform Programme.

In May 2012, a formal decision was taken by the Government to set up a Civil Service HR and Pensions Administration Shared Service Centre for the Civil Service, called PeoplePoint, in Clonskeagh in Dublin; to consolidate transactional HR activities and allow organisations to focus their resources on core activities.

PeoplePoint Project: The PeoplePoint Project is tasked with delivering a shared services centre to process transactional HR and Pension Administration to 40 Civil Service Departments and Offices. The project will transition the 40 in-scope bodies on a phased basis over the next 18 months.

The project will:

- Create a HR Shared Service Centre with multi-channel access for managers and staff via portal, phone, email or post

- Improve customer service by providing consistent, effective and reliable HR Services to all staff across the Civil Service

- Develop a “customer service” culture within the shared service centre

- Optimise HR processes to transition administration to the shared services centre

- Improve technology, where necessary, to enhance processes

- Create a service management capability to drive on time service delivery and ongoing continuous improvement

- Enhance HR’s capability

- Improve governance of HR processes

PeoplePoint commenced its HR services operation at the end of March, 2013. It is estimated that with the establishment of PeoplePoint and post 2014, when all 40 Civil Service Departments and Offices in-scope have transitioned, and the shared service is stabilised, that the annual cost of HR services for the civil service will be reduced significantly by €12.5m per annum and by 149 staff.

PeoplePoint is staffed and managed by Civil Servants and currently does not provide services to the broader public service., It will change the way Human Resources will function in the Civil Service in a number of ways including:

- Improved administrative efficiency and by reducing costs

- A shift in HR focus in Departments/Offices away from compliance and administrative personnel activity to work that is of higher value to the business of the organisation.

- Transforming HR service delivery across the entire Civil Service which in turn will enable and drive continuing organisational change and on-going delivery of front-line services to the citizen

- Freeing up the capacity of the resources who process those HR transactions within the individual organisations to more front-line core activities

The introduction of PeoplePoint at the end of March represents a very significant step in making Shared Services a reality across the Civil Service.