Skip to main content
Normal View

Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 23 Mar 1926

Vol. 14 No. 16

CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - ORGANISATION OF GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS.

asked the President whether in view of the general financial stringency and economic depression existing in the Saorstát, and in particular in the main producing industry of agriculture, and in view of the expressed opinion that one of the causes of this depression is the present high national and local taxation, the Executive Council are taking any steps whereby taxation may be reduced, and if he considers that in this connection an examination into the staffing of all Departments of State is advisable, and that an inquiry should be made by some independent expert authority on the present system of organisation of these Departments with a view to suggesting a system of more efficient and more economic administration, and if he will recommend that a special committee of experts be appointed to carry out this inquiry and examination, or, in the alternative, that an expert official from an outside Government be invited to examine into the several Departments and report on a better system of departmental organisation with a view to economising.

(replying): I am aware of no reason for assuming that the present system in Departments of State is inefficient or uneconomic. It is the normal and constant duty of the Department of Finance to investigate the numbers and organisation of Departments. Any such examination is necessarily laborious. It has to be spread over a long period and has to be carried out with a minimum of disturbance to the work of the Departments by persons acquainted with the principles on which staffs for Government work are organised and paid. I am not aware that experts in such matters exist outside the Government service itself. The process of replacing temporary staff recruited since 1914 by personnel recruited through open competitive examination in the usual way has only recently begun. Many of the Departments are contending with new services and increased duties, some of which are of a temporary character. Experienced establishment officers within the service are already devoting all their time to questions of revision of pay and organisation, and detailed investigations of the duties and numbers of staff in the various Departments are in progress and will continue. In these circumstances I see no justification for bringing in the services of an expert official from an outside Government.

As regards the Civil Service generally, questions of possible changes with a view to economy have been under constant consideration. As shown in the reply by the Minister for Finance to Deputy Johnson's question on 23rd February last, the pay of the general service grades, which represent a large bulk of the expenditure on staffs, has been considerably reduced since the change of Government. The hours of attendance of staffs also have been extended and allowances of annual leave and allowances for subsistence and travelling have been reduced. A special instruction recently issued by the Minister for Finance has urged on Heads of Departments the need for reductions in number of staffs employed, and action has already been taken, and continues, with a view to economies in other directions.

Top
Share