Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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253. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the degree to which he expects reform to remain a central part of his Department’s policy; the extent to which this is likely to manifest itself in 2021 and thereafter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23721/21]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I would like to thank Deputy for the question. The Deputy will be aware that a large programme of reform has been under way since the establishment of this Department in 2011.

Reform of public services will continue to play an integral role in this Department's function as we recover our economy and society from the ongoing, pervasive impacts of the Covid19 pandemic. The Department is currently preparing the next phases of Public Service Reform (to succeed Our Public Service 2020) and a refreshed programme of Civil Service Renewal which will incorporate priorities that were articulated in the recently published Public Service Innovation Strategy, Making Innovation Real. Furthermore, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer in my Department is also preparing a new Public Service Digital Strategy, which will be published during 2021, in the coming months.

These new plans and strategies will reinvigorate the reform agenda and make certain that we capitalise on the positive changes that we have witnessed since the onset of the pandemic. These plans and strategies will also incorporate a number of Programme for Government commitments that will enable the Public Service to be more responsive to the future needs of our citizens and to be resilient to any similar economic shocks of this nature.