asked the Minister for Finance if a management advisory committee and a system of accountable management on the lines envisaged in the 1985 White Paper on the Public Service Serving the Public Better are now in operation in his Department; and, if not, whether he has any plans to introduce such a system.
Written Answers. - Accountable Management System.
118.
My Department has a Management Committee, comprising the Secretary and the Heads of Divisions of the Department. Under the Department's management system, responsibility for each function of the Department rests with the relevant manager. Each Assistant Secretary has a budget for certain expenses, such as training, travel and subsistence and consultancies. In addition, there is an appraisal system under which individual members of the staff are, inter alia, assigned work targets.
The position in regard to the offices under my aegis is as follows:
Office of the Revenue Commissioners
A system of accountable management, based on the principles outlined in the 1985 White Paper on the Public Service, is in operation in the Office of the Revenue Commissioners. The system has operated since 1986.
The operation of the system, on both the Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise sides of the Office, is monitored by Management Committees, each of which is chaired by a member of the Board.
Office of Public Works (OPW)
A Planning Committee consisting of the heads of the staff support units headed by the Chairman of the Commissioners is in place in OPW to oversee the development of a corporate plan and to advise the Management Committee on an ongoing basis. In addition, a study to design a comprehensive management information system is in progress. In the Office's major area of Government building construction a Project Management Plan is being implemented. Under the plan management accountability is essential and to this end individual officers are being designated with overall responsibility for particular projects.
In the Office as a whole, the concept of budget-holding has been developed and extended so that, in so far as possible, heads of functions are fully accountable for disbursal of moneys voted for their functional areas.
The other smaller offices under my aegis also have appropriate systems in place to ensure accountability for output and results.