Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

38. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide details of the reforms he will initiate over the next two years. [9439/14]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

On 14 January, I published the Government's new Public Service Reform Plan for 2014-2016.  The new Plan outlines the key reform initiatives that will be implemented over the next three years.  It also addresses the broader ambition for reform towards 2020.  The four key themes running through this new Reform Plan are delivery of improved outcomes; utilisation of the reform dividend; digitalisation and open data; and openness and accountability.

While maintaining the drive for increased efficiency, this next phase of reform will have a greater focus on the delivery of improved outcomes for service users. This will include greater use of alternative models of service delivery, such as commissioning for specific outcomes, and service delivery improvements at sectoral and organisational levels.

As well as changing how we deliver public services, we will continue to focus on increasing efficiency and productivity.  As efficiencies are realised through initiatives such as public procurement reform and shared services, some of the savings made will be re-invested in improved services.  This Reform Dividend will serve to underpin and help sustain the reform agenda beyond the current fiscal crisis.

The Public Service must make maximum use of new technologies, digitalisation and open data to deliver services in innovative ways.  A new Government ICT Strategy will be published later this year that will address the use of new and emerging technologies, ensuring that eGovernment is designed around real needs and taking steps to improve the take-up of 'digital government'.  As part of this new strategy, we are capturing data on the top transactional services on which the citizen engages with the State, which will help inform what further services will be put online.

 The new plan also places a focus on increased openness, transparency and accountability. Citizens must be able to clearly see that the Public Service is working fairly in its decision making, in implementing policy and in delivering public services. In this context, the political reform programme will deliver greater openness, transparency and accountability to strengthen trust in government and public services and strengthen public governance. A particularly important development is the recent publication of a consultation paper focused on options for strengthening Civil Service accountability and performance.

The Haddington Road Agreement will be a key enabler of the reform programme and will deliver an additional €1 billion reduction in the cost of the Public Service pay and pensions bill by 2016. 

In delivering reform, we will continue to ensure that we have strong implementation and governance structures, which were an important element of the first Reform Plan. The Cabinet Committee on Public Service Reform will continue to provide strategic direction and hold senior managers to account for the delivery of reform. Each Department and Office has also developed their own Integrated Reform Delivery Plan, based on the commitments set out in the overall Reform Plan and also incorporating their own organisational and sectoral reform objectives.

The full details of our ambitious reform programme are set out on the new Reform Plan. This includes over 200 specific actions with clear timelines for each. As you will be aware, I also published a Progress Report on 14 January, which sets out the considerable progress made to date on Public Service Reform. Both documents are available at www.reformplan.per.gov.ie. Finally, my statement on the Reform Plan to the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure & Reform last week is available at