Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

557. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the efficiencies being achieved in the sectors under her remit, regarding the use of shared services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18833/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Department of Education and Skills, under the mandate of the Public Service Reform Plan for 2014 – 2016, published the Education and Training Sector Shared Services Plan 2014 – 2016.

The Shared Services Plan committed to an extensive programme of reform which includes projects for Higher Education, the schools sector, SOLAS and the Education and Training Boards (ETB's), the Department and its agencies.

The major Shared Services initiatives in the Education and Training Sector include:

- Payroll Shared Services ETBs

- Payroll Shared Services Higher Education

- Financial Management Shared Service ETBs

These projects are currently at planning and development stage, for this reason it is not possible to report on efficiencies at this point.

The Department is also participating in the Civil Service Shared Services projects for HR, Payroll, and Finance, the costs of these initiatives are managed by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The Department is now fully operational within the HR and Payroll Civil Service Shared Service Centres.

Other initiatives such as the Student Grants Reform Project which developed into Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) are currently providing the benefits of centralised provision to the Sector. With a move from 66 grant awarding authorities to one single authority, SUSI provides students with a single point of contact and is a more cost efficient and effective service delivery channel.