Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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187. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the reason workforce de-layering has not yet been achieved within his Department as it has in the Health Service Executive in line with section 3.11 (Workforce Restructuring) of the Haddington Road Agreement and section 4.2.1 - iii. (Develop options for workforce de-layering, Start Q1 2014, End Q4 2014) of the action plan, appendix 1 of the Public Service Reform Plan 2014-2016; if he will initiate workforce de-layering within his Department with immediate effect; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49651/14]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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In my role as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, I have overarching responsibility for human resource management policy in the Civil Service. As part of that role my Department is currently considering options for advancing the objective of grade restructuring as one of a number of actions to strengthen Human Resource Strategy and resourcing policies. In this regard, Action 16 of the recent Civil Service Renewal Plan also provides for the redesign of organisational and grade structures in order to simplify them so that all roles and responsibilities are clear. It is also aimed at improving decision making by making sure that grade level never limits opportunities to make decisions, innovate or meet objectives. Implementation of this provision will take place during the term of the Renewal Plan and will be subject to discussions with Staff representatives.As mentioned above, commitments such as those referred to in the Deputy's question apply to the Civil Service as a whole and are implemented on a service-wide basis, rather than individually decided at the level of each individual Government Department and Office. It should be noted, however, that within the parameters of overall policy the management of the resources in a particular Department is a matter for the management of that Department. It has been a particular priority of the Management Board of my Department to ensure that the human resources of the Department are used in an effective and efficient way to support the achievement of Government objectives. The Deputy might be interested in reviewing the Annual Report of the Department for 2013, which summarises the significant achievements of its workforce. This is available on the Department s website.