Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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189. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which he proposes to continue to use reform as a means of controlling costs in this jurisdiction for the foreseeable future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21587/22]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for his question.

A range of budgetary reforms have been put in place in recent years, to drive spending efficiency and effectiveness. It is a key responsibility of every Department and Minister to manage expenditure within their respective allocations and careful monitoring of spending against profile and of progress on programmes and projects is required. Public organisations are required to treat public funds with care, and to ensure that the best possible value for money is obtained whenever public money is being spent or invested. This is in accordance with the Public Spending Code. Moreover, Action 5 of Our Public Service 2020 emphasises the need to ensure value-for-money principles are adhered to across the Public Service.

As part of this broader approach to ensuring value for money, the introduction of shared services and centralised procurement in earlier phases of reform continue to be embedded in the delivery of services to clients and customers. My Department continues to actively explore new areas and mechanisms to further embed reforms and efficiencies that will enhance the cost-effectiveness of public services; for example, through greater use of opportunities presented through digitisation, intelligent automation, innovation and the implementation of new ways of working and service design.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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190. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which public expenditure on infrastructure can be targeted at those areas most in need of infrastructural investment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21588/22]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Project Ireland 2040 sets out the Government's overarching vision for the provision of infrastructure in order to better cater for the needs of the State’s existing population and to accommodate projected population increases in a balanced and sustainable way. 

Project Ireland 2040 includes the National Planning Framework (NPF), which sets the overarching spatial strategy for the next twenty years and sets out ten National Strategic Outcomes (NSOs) to provide a strategic framework for the selection and development of appropriate interventions to address infrastructure needs at a national, regional and local level. 

Under the NPF, the three Regional Assemblies are now responsible for co-ordinating, promoting and supporting the strategic planning and sustainable development of their regions, consistent with the objectives of the NPF, through the preparation of Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies (RSES). These strategies help inform the targeting of public infrastructure investment at the regional and local level.  

The ten-year National Development Plan (NDP) has also been put in place to underpin the implementation of the NPF and to support the development and meet the infrastructure needs of all counties and regions, including both urban and rural areas. The NDP contains expenditure commitments for a range of strategic investment priorities in infrastructure which have been identified by the relevant funding departments as critical to the delivery of the NPF vision.  

My Department is responsible for publishing the NDP and jointly monitoring its delivery. As part of the most recent update to the NDP, my Department coordinated the inputs from the relevant funding bodies and conducted supporting analysis, such as an assessment of the environmental impacts of infrastructure investment proposals. Within this framework the funding departments and agencies identify infrastructure needs relating to their own sectoral strategies and goals and prioritise projects accordingly.  

Finally, my department is responsible for issuing and maintaining capital investment guidance at a central level within the Public Spending Code (PSC). The PSC provides a framework for the appraisal, planning and delivery of capital investment projects. These guidelines help ensure public infrastructure projects are selected, designed and delivered in a manner that meets and is proportionate to the identified needs within an area and provides value for money.  

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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192. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the degree to which he expects reform to be a part of Government policy in the future, having particular regard to success in this area in the past; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21590/22]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that under the Programme for Government – Our Shared Future, there is a commitment to continuing reform. The Programme outlines that reform to public services, among other areas, is an integral part of this government’s core missions. This is reflected in my Department’s Statement of Strategy 2021-2023 which sets out driving reform and innovation across the Civil and Public Service as a strategic goal for my Department. One key factor of this expressed in the Strategy is the delivery of the next phases of Civil Service Renewal and Public Service Reform, including the continued implementation of the Public Service Innovation Strategy, digital government, procurement and people related reforms, with particular focus on shared and user-driven solutions and the workforce, workplace and organisation of the future. 

To this end with a view to the future, officials are currently preparing the next phase of public service reform (to succeed Our Public Service 2020). This will incorporate priorities that were articulated in the recently published Public Service Innovation Strategy, Making Innovation Real. It will also align with ambitions set out in the programme of renewal for the Civil Service (Civil Service Renewal 2030) published in May last year and its recently published three year Action Plan (Civil Service Renewal 2024), as they relate to the wider Public Service. Additionally, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer under my Department published a new Public Service Digital Strategy, Connecting Government 2030: A Digital and ICT Strategy for Ireland’s Public Service, which sets out an approach to deliver digital government for all, benefitting both society and the broader economy. It will also drive the wider GovTech priorities as well as bring significant public value benefits. These strategies set out the aims and priorities in these policy areas going forward and will aid the continuation of ongoing reform across the public service into the future.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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194. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he remains satisfied that the level of reform interposed with public expenditure is sufficient to continue to meet the targets as laid out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21592/22]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for his question.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform’s mission as laid out in the Statement of Strategy 2021- 2023 is to serve the public interest through sound governance of public expenditure and by leading and enabling reform across the Civil and Public Service.

To date a number of strategies have been published to carry out the Department’s mission, and at present the next phase of public service reform (to succeed Our Public Service 2020) is being prepared by officials. It will incorporate priorities that were articulated in the Public Service Innovation Strategy, Making Innovation Real in addition to aligning with the ambitions set out in the programme of renewal for the Civil Service (Civil Service Renewal 2030) and its recently published three year Action Plan (Civil Service Renewal 2024).

Additionally, in March 2022, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer in my Department published a new Public Service Digital Strategy Connecting Government 2030: A Digital and ICT Strategy for Ireland’s Public Service, which articulates my Department’s ambitions for digital reform by further embedding digitisation and the increased delivery of digital services to the public.