Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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45. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he has reviewed the operation of the legislation which mandated the preparation of strategy statements, annual reporting against objectives and systematic annual evaluation of a rolling number of key programmes; his views on whether it has achieved its objectives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21714/23]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Public Service Management Act 1997 was introduced to provide a statutory underpinning for the Strategic Management Initiative, which was one of the first major programmes of public sector reform in this country. The Act provides for a new management structure for the Civil Service to enhance the management, effectiveness and transparency of the operations of Departments of State and certain other offices of the public service.

Among other things, the Act requires every Secretary General to prepare and submit a statement of strategy in respect of their Department to the Minister of said Department within 6 months of the appointment of a new Minister and at the expiration of the three year period since the last statement was prepared and submitted.

Strategy statements must set out the key objectives, outputs and related strategies (including use of resources) of the Department concerned. All strategy statements are published and laid before the Oireachtas. Secretaries General are also required to provide annual progress reports to their Ministers on the implementation of the strategy statement.

There has been no formal review of the Act since it came into force some 25 years ago. It is clear, however, that the Act has, to a large extent, delivered on its intended purpose, which was to create greater openness and transparency as to the objectives of each Government Department and how they are performing in delivering in those objectives. The process of developing and publishing strategy statements and annual reports has been fully embedded across the Civil Service for many years now.

Indeed, the framework for measuring the effectiveness of Government Departments in delivering on their objectives has undergone and continues to undergo a continuous process of improvement and refinement under the many public service reform initiatives that have been delivered since 1997. This has included over the years: the establishment of the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service; the ongoing programme of Organisational Capability Reviews; the establishment of the Civil Service Management Board; the development of the National Data Infrastructure; as well as the implementation of the Civil Service Renewal Plan and, more recently, Civil Service Renewal 2030.