Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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59. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the degree to which he expects Departments to reform in the current year thereby making a positive contribution to the economy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46972/19]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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61. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the degree to which reforms within various Departments have contributed to savings and economic improvement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46974/19]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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64. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which he is satisfied that adequate steps are being taken to promote reform within each Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46977/19]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 59, 61 and 64 together.

The programme of reform in the Civil Service supporting the development of high performing organisations continues to be embedded.  A fourth progress report which captures the progress made since the plan was commenced was published in May 2019 and is available on my Department's website at www.gov.ie/en/collection/8a4a55-civil-service-renewal-plan-progress-reports/#fourth-progress-report. 

The Civil Service Renewal Plan for Government Departments includes 25 headline actions. Significant progress has been made in delivering this ambitious programme of reform. Achievements include:

- The establishment of the Civil Service Management Board which has collective responsibility for the delivering the actions in the Civil Service Renewal Plan.

- The development of a Common Governance Standard for the Civil Service.

- Further implementation of the Shared Services Programme; the Public Service ICT Strategy and Government Communications Programme.

- The Civil Service People Strategy was launched in October 2017, setting the strategic direction for Human Resource Management across the Civil Service while also recognising that each organisation is unique and has its own challenges.

- Open recruitment competitions have been held for a wide range of general service, professional and technical grades.

- A wide range of initiatives to improve gender balance across the Civil Service have been developed and are being implemented within Departments and Offices. These include an action plan to improve gender balance at senior levels.

- OneLearning has been established to centrally operate and maintain the new Learning & Development (L&D) model and to manage the delivery the new common suite of L&D programmes.

- Introduction of structured and transparent talent management programmes to develop future leaders.

- A more effective and simplified performance management system (PMDS) has been delivered, including training for line managers to support and improve the management of performance.

- A new scheme for recognising innovation and excellence across the Civil Service was introduced through the Civil Service Excellence and Innovation Awards. The awards celebrate the significant contributions that civil servants make to the Civil Service and recognise innovations in policy and service delivery across the Civil Service.

- An approach to professionalisation has been agreed in the areas of HR, ICT and Finance, with most progress made in the HR and ICT areas.

- A new Civil Service-wide mobility scheme has been introduced for Clerical Officers and Executive Officers which will be extended to other grades up to Assistant Principal level in due course.

- A standardised project management approach has been introduced and supported with the establishment of a Project Managers’ Network and training from OneLearning.

- A new system of Organisational Capability Reviews to assess and strengthen performance and capacity across Departments is being implemented

- Guidelines and a handbook in relation to the transfer of functions has been published to assist in implementing Government Decisions to establish new Departments or restructuring of existing Departments.

- Significant progress in relation to the development of a National Data Infrastructure.

- Organisation of two Civil Service Employee Engagement Surveys to date which asks civil servants for their views on working in the Civil Service, focusing on areas such as employee engagement, well-being, coping with change and commitment to the organisation. Departments/Offices are tasked with responding to the challenging areas arising from the findings.

As I announced in Budget 2020, demographic changes and the next wave of technological change will place new demands on our key offices and Departments.  The Civil Service of the future will be different in terms of its skills mix, use of technology and geographical footprint.  We are therefore developing a longer term vision and strategy for the Civil Service which will be announced in due course.

Implementation of the wider public service reform programme, Our Public Service 2020, the framework for development and innovation for the public service to 2020 and beyond, is continuing. The First Progress Report on the framework was published in October 2019 and is available on my Department's website at www.ops2020.gov.ie/app/uploads/2019/10/OPS2020-First-Progress-Report_Web.pdf.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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60. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the monetary value of the reforms incorporated in policy in each of the past five years to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46973/19]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The significant public service reforms that this Government has undertaken in recent years 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.

In my own Department, two notable examples are the establishment of a centralised Office of Government Procurement and the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, established to lead the implementation of the Public Service ICT Strategy in cooperation with departments and agencies across the public service. 

As Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, I must also seek to ensure that our fiscal and public expenditure policy is sustainable and that Public Sector policy continues to facilitate good economic performance in the future. In this context, 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.

Transformation across the diverse sectors that make up our public service in Ireland is however a continuous process. Although not exhaustive, an indication of the range of activities undertaken can be seen in the update (July 2017) on the 227 actions contained in the Public Service Reform Plan 2014-2016.

The policy document Our Public Service 2020 represents the current phase of public service reform. Our Public Service 2020 is a whole-of-public-service initiative designed to build on previous reforms, while expanding the scope of reform to focus on collaboration, innovation and evaluation. Our Public Service 2020 seeks better outcomes for the public, to support innovation and collaboration and to build public service organisations that are resilient and agile.

The first progress report on Our Public Service 2020 was published on 3 October 2019. The report, along with information and up-dates on the full range of Our Public Service 2020 activities can be accessed at the website OPS2020.gov.ie.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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62. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which his Department continues to rely on reform throughout the public sector as a means of bridging budgetary gaps; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46975/19]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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66. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the degree to which each item of public expenditure remains on target throughout the coming year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46979/19]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 62 and 66 together.

Taking account of the increases provided for core expenditure, relative to the allocations in the Revised Estimate Volume 2019, spending on day to day public services will increase by 4.3 per cent next year, with capital investment growing by 10.8 per cent. Total gross expenditure will increase by 5 per cent to just over €70 billion. After taking account of potential expenditure arising from the no-deal Brexit, expenditure in 2020 would rise to over €71 billion.

 In 2020, core voted Government expenditure on the delivery of public services, excluding costs relating to the need to respond to a disorderly Brexit will be €61.9 billion. Maintaining the approach of recent years, additional resources will be focused on incrementally improving the scope and availability of public services which will impact on all sectors and regions of the economy. Details of the services to be delivered by all Departments are set out in Part II of the Budget 2020 Expenditure Report.

In relation to Capital expenditure, Project Ireland 2040 is the Government’s long-term overarching strategy to make Ireland a better country for all of its people. The plan changes how infrastructure investment is made. Project Ireland 2040 supports business and communities across all of Ireland in realising their potential.

Capital expenditure funding for 2020 represents a significant increase of almost €800 million or 10.8% over the 2019 allocations.  This investment will be delivered in line with the National Planning Framework as part of Project Ireland 2040. Targeted and sustainable investment will enable ambitious growth in our regional cities which can complement the continuing importance of Dublin to the national economy.

In order to safeguard this significant investment, a range of reforms have been put in place over the last number of years with the aim of focusing attention on achieving value for money. For example, the Performance Budgeting initiative seeks to shift focus away from simply looking at the quantum of spend towards examining what is being delivered through public expenditure. As part of this initiative, the third Public Service Performance Report was published earlier this year and provided outturn performance information for 2018 as well as trend data for the previous two years. My Department also finalised year three of the Spending Review process in 2019. The Spending Review aims to place evidence at the centre of policy development, through the examination of existing policies and programmes to assess their efficiency and effectiveness. This systematic examination of existing expenditure can support the re-allocation of funding to meet expenditure priorities. 

Managing the delivery of public services within allocations is a key responsibility of each Minister and Department. There are important measures are in place to ensure that our budgetary targets are being met. My Department is in regular contact with all other Departments and offices to ensure that expenditure is being managed within the overall fiscal parameters and there is regular reporting to Government on expenditure levels. Expenditure profiles are published for each month and the drawdown of funds from the Exchequer is monitored throughout the year and reported on against profile on a monthly basis in the Exchequer Statement.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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63. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which he expects reform within the public sector to be delivered in the current year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46976/19]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As I have previously informed the Deputy, the significant reforms within the public sector that this Government has put in place since 2011 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 framework for public service reform and innovation, Our Public Service 2020 (OPS 2020) which I launched at end-2017, builds on previous reforms while expanding their scope to focus on collaboration, innovation and evaluation.

Some examples of current reform initiatives under Our Public Service 2020 that are being delivered in the current year include:

- The establishment of Procurement Framework for Robotic Process Automation;

- An Garda Siochana’s Active Mobility Service;

- The Library Service’s My Open Library initiative;

- Revenue Commissioners PAYE Modernisation;

- Establishment of a pilot fund to support Public Service innovation (launched in May 2019); and

- Innovation Week, to be held on 9-13 December 2019.

Further details of the reforms that we continue to deliver under OPS 2020, including during the current year, can be found in the first progress report on Our Public Service 2020, which I published last month in conjunction with my colleague Minister of State Patrick O’Donovan. Information and up-dates on the full range of OPS 2020 activities can also be accessed at the website OPS2020.gov.ie.

Apart from OPS 2020, reform is underway in organisations right across the civil and public services.  The overall programme of reform that we set out in the 2014 Civil Service Renewal Plan in order to support a higher performing organisation continues to be embedded within our Civil Service.  A fourth progress report which captures the progress made since the Civil Service Renewal Plan commenced was published in May and this is also available on my Department's website at www.gov.ie/en/collection/8a4a55-civil-service-renewal-plan-progress-reports/#fourth-progress-report.