Written answers

Thursday, 7 February 2019

Department of Public Expenditure and Reform

Public Sector Reform Review

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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31. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the degree to which reforms throughout the public sector remain in place to ensure accountability, collective responsibility and good value for money; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5914/19]

Photo of Paschal DonohoePaschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As I have previously informed the House, significant public service reforms have occurred in recent years that continue to deliver improved services and value for money across a range of specific areas such as governance, accountability, procurement, shared services, organisational reform and property management.

The current phase of public service reform - Our Public Service 2020 , which I launched in 2017 – represents a whole-of-public-service initiative designed to build on these previous reforms while expanding the scope of reform to focus on collaboration, innovation and evaluation. This new policy framework has been designed to deliver better outcomes for the public and will ensure that the citizen is at the centre of policies and service delivery across the whole of the public service.

As Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform I must ensure that our fiscal and public expenditure policy is prudent and sustainable. There are a number of budgetary reforms introduced in recent years to guide my decisions on overall fiscal policy in this regard, including fiscal rules, expenditure ceilings and spending reviews. The actions in Our Public Service 2020 will ensure that the focus of the public service is very much on delivery of quality public services, while operating within these prudent limits.

A Public Service Leadership Board (PSLB) has been established to lead the delivery of Our Public Service 2020 . For the first time, both civil and public service leaders and managers will work jointly to drive the reform programme. This will ensure there is shared ownership for the actions on reform right across the public service.

Our Public Service 2020 contains an added focus on evaluation and on the importance of building a reform evaluation culture and in developing indicators to support an outcomes focus. With this goal in mind, within my Department we have established a Reform Evaluation Unit to focus on monitoring and evaluating the outcomes of reform as well as creating greater links between expenditure and reform.

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