Vol. 472 No. 1
10 Miss Harney asked the Taoiseach the specific changes, if any, implemented in his Department as part of the Strategic Management Initiative; the cost to date of the initiative to his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20340/96]
The implementation of the SMI and the document Delivering Better Government is under way across and within all Departments. Six working groups of business representatives from the private sector and public servants are producing action frameworks for: quality service; human resource management; open and transparent service delivery; information technology; regulatory reform; and financial management.
The working groups will produce their initial reports shortly to the co-ordinating group consisting of action frameworks for implementation of the recommendations of the document Delivering Better Government. These action frameworks will then be considered by the SMI co-ordinating group and the Government and released to Departments and Offices for implementation.
Within Departments and offices the focus to date has been on producing statements of strategy that develop and adapt the detailed focus on results contained in the document Delivering Better Government in the light of their own functions and resources.
The statement of strategy for the Department of the Taoiseach is being finalised and will be published before the end of this year. The Department has established a number of internal groups to deal with the implications of the SMI for the internal organisation of the Department and its level of services provision.
Emerging from the deliberations of these groups, the Department of the Taoiseach is formulating action plans in the following key areas: production of detailed programmes of work for each division in the Department; enhanced training and development programmes for staff at all levels; improvements in the operation and delivery of internal support services, including information technology; development of appropriate structures to facilitate communication, consultation and participation involving staff at all levels within the Department.
Consultancy costs incurred to date in respect of the engagement of an external facilitator to assist the Department in developing its response to the Strategic Management Initiative totalled £16,877; 50 per cent of this cost, £8,439, was recouped from the Department of Finance central fund in respect of the Strategic Management Initiative.
I cannot overemphasise the significance of the SMI process and the change programme set out in the document Delivering Better Government to updating our system of governance to reflect today's realities and to achieve high levels of effectiveness in the civil and public service. The business of Government has increased out of all proportion since the founding of the State and has been particularly marked since the early 1960s. Moreover, the business of Government has reached a level of complexity today that was unimaginable when our system of governance, as enshrined in the Ministers and Secretaries Act, 1924, was devised.
The need to update the system and its supporting structures to reflect the realities of carrying out the business of Government in today's complex and fast changing economic and social environment is paramount. The introduction of the SMI began this process of modernisation. The document Delivering Better Government which sets out a comprehensive and integrated programme of change for the civil and public service continues and reinforces it.
It is clear the document Delivering Better Government was not a priority of the Department of Justice in recent weeks and that much of what the Minister of State speaks about, even something as basic as reading correspondence, is not in place in that Department. When will we see the action plans promised by the Minister of State? Will one be published for each Government Department or just for the Department of the Taoiseach? Why did the Minister of State not fulfil the undertaking she gave us on the last occasion we raised this issue when she undertook to send us a copy of the contract of employment entered into between the Government and its consultants in relation to this initiative?
I have been advised that the details of the contract of employment, like most contracts of employment in the public sector, are a matter for the consultants and Department concerned. Like all other Departments, the Department of Justice will submit its statement of strategy before the end of the year. We expect to receive it in mid-December. I look forward to receiving it. The SMI process and the document Delivering Better Government are being taken seriously in that as in all other Departments.
I hope they do not post it.
Will the Minister of State accept that, if we are to have better, transparent and accountable Government, the public is entitled to see the details of the contract of employment entered into with the consultants?
I will be in office for another year. If I am given the chance to continue for a few years after that in this particular office, by the time we will have rolled out the SMI and all that is contained in the document Delivering Better Government the Deputy will not want for transparency or accountability. The Government and the Opposition are not divided on this point. Rome was not built in a day. Experience in all other Parliaments and democracies which have renewed and revised their system of public administration in recent years shows that this cannot be achieved in one or two years, that it will straddle the term of office of one or two Governments. It will take a number of years and require political commitment across the spectrum in the short, medium and long-term to achieve all we want to achieve. We have not got there yet and I will not pretend that we have.
Can the Minister of State give me any good reason we cannot see a copy of the contract of employment entered into with Drury Communications?
I do not have the details but I understand and have been advised that the normal procedure is that details of contracts between the private sector and the public service, unless otherwise heralded, are not published.
It is public money. We are paying for it.
The same thing happened in the case of Telecom Éireann. It is not good enough. A contract has been entered into with an outside company. As we did last May, we call on the Minister of State to publish the details. We know how much has been paid and what it was for. Was it for scriptwriting?
The Deputy is raising a particular matter deserving of a special question.
Will the Minister of State indicate whether the statement of strategy for each Government Department will be published?
It is intended to publish all of them.
What is the final date for receipt of statements?
We expect to receive all of them by the end of December. While we have received a considerable number, we do not have them all. They will be published by the Department concerned.
While I accept everything cannot be done in one go it is now almost three years since the initiative began. Is there any indication from any Department that there will be an increase in productivity, that money will be saved and that real progress will be made?
As a former Minister for Finance, the Deputy will be aware of the pilot programmes on accrual accounting and the value for money initiative. This question relates specifically, however, to the progress being made in the Department of the Taoiseach on the Strategic Management Initiative but I can answer in the affirmative. I would like to be properly briefed and would be delighted to return to the House to give the Deputy specific answers but there is every evidence that the value for money initiative will result in savings in the public sector for the taxpayer who is footing the bill. I would be delighted to avail of another opportunity to deal with this matter in detail with the Deputy.
In relation to changes in the Department of the Taoiseach, who will be responsible under the SMI for errors in the office of the Attorney General?
That is a separate question.
Not really.
Will he come under the SMI?
Efficiency evades nobody.
The question relates to the Department of the Taoiseach. In the proposed changes under the SMI, who will be responsible in relation to errors in the office of the Attorney General?
The Attorney General is the head of his section of the Department. The buck will ultimately stop with him, or her in the future.
He does not appear.
That is a different matter. The buck will stop with the boss.
He will not come before the committee.
An office cleaner will probably be blamed.
I met a man who was not there; he was not there again today.
