Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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86. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the savings that have been made by Tipperary ETB since the merger of south Tipperary VEC and north Tipperary VEC. [44342/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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South and North Tipperary VECs were dissolved and Tipperary ETB was established in 2013. 

As the Deputy is aware it had been decided in advance that rather than centralise the administrative offices for the new ETB in one location in County Tipperary, both of the former VEC head office locations were to be retained as designated offices of the ETB. Therefore it was not expected that savings would materialise in respect of reduced accommodation needs. In the intervening period additional accommodation requirements have in fact arisen, due to the ETB acquiring its training function in addition to its longstanding post-primary, PLC and further education responsibilities.

Economies arising during the period of restructuring include those achieved as a result of reductions in administrative staffing costs associated with the streamlining of functions within ETBs and the redeployment of surplus staff. For example, in respect of the former Tipperary VECs there were two Chief Executive Officer posts, whereas the requirement is a single Chief Executive for the ETB. 

As the restructuring was contemporaneous with the operation of the moratorium on public sector recruitment it is not possible to extricate those payroll savings which related specifically to the restructuring. However, cumulative savings of approximately €690,000 were achieved in the Admin and Maintenance staff pay budget provided by my Department to Tipperary ETB in the years 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

A number of other factors have also been at play since the establishment of the ETB. Head office services have adapted and expanded to reflect the need to service the ETB for the new training function, school enrolments have increased, the legislative and regulatory frameworks in which ETBs operate have changed, amongst other things. 

In the light of such momentous and transformational change for the sector, some reinvestment on the personnel side has been necessary. With the coming to the end of the moratorium and the introduction of Delegated Sanction Agreements, progress has been possible. My Department has been working to review and redesign the organisational structure for the ETBs. The first phase of this work saw the strengthening of the senior management team in the ETBs with the approval of posts at Director level for each ETB in the three functional areas of Schools, Further Education and Training and Organisation Support and Development.

For the sector as a whole, plans are also advanced for the establishment of shared services facilities in the areas of finance and payroll which should result in improved efficiency and consistency in financial and payroll management. 

In view of the evolving nature of the ETB environment as outlined, it is not possible to quantify specific savings from the merger of South Tipperary VEC and North Tipperary VEC.