asked the Minister for Finance the number of staff currently engaged in Organisation and Methods work in his Department; the type of work carried out by them to date; and his future plans in this field.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Organisation and Methods.
38.
There are at present seven officers in my Department who are working full time in the field of organisation and methods (O and M). The work has also the part-time attention of supervising officers.
Because much of the work of the O and M officers in my Department is carried out for other Departments, frequently on a team basis with O and M staff in these Departments, I think I should explain that, in the Civil Service as a whole, there are 45 officers engaged full time on O and M and two occupied part time, aside from supervisory staff.
The type of work done up to the present in the field of O and M has been the investigation of systems and procedures and the examination of organisation structures in various sections of the Civil Service, both indoor and outdoor, and the presentation of recommendations and advice to management designed to increase efficiency. In the examination of procedures, O and M keeps abreast of the constant progress in the field of office machinery, conducts tests on newly-developed machines and promotes the use in the Civil Service of suitable modern office machinery of proven performance. The development of automatic data processing and computers in the Civil Service, which now constitutes a specialised field in itself, originated from activities of an O and M character.
Within the new Public Service Department I intend to lay increasing stress on the development and extension of O and M and kindred activities designed to raise levels of efficiency.