Vol. 498 No. 5
1 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach if, further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 10 and 11 of 14 October 1998 on the strategic management initiative, he has finalised recommendations on regulatory reform, financial management and information technology to put before Government for consideration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26634/98]
As the Deputy is aware, the strategic management initiative sets out a wide-ranging programme for change in the Civil Service. It is based on a number of key elements including regulatory reform, financial management changes and changes in relation to information technology. Working groups were established in respect of these issues and these groups have now reported. Their recommendations are being considered by the Implementation Group which is responsible for developing an integrated programme of change.
The report of the Working Group on Regulatory Reform has now been considered by the Implementation Group which has set out a programme of action to help ensure that the level of regulation in the economy is appropriate. I am currently finalising detailed proposals which I expect to be able to put to my colleagues in Government for decision early in 1999.
Regarding financial management, the recommendations of the working group will be considered by the Implementation Group at its first meeting in January and the group will then report to Government setting out a programme of action. I envisage Government consideration early in 1999. As I indicated in my reply to questions on 14 October last, changes have already been introduced in the multi-annual budgeting and administrative budget aspects of financial management.
A number of the recommendations contained in the SMI Working Group Report on Information Technology have already been taken up in the work of the interdepartmental Implementation Group on the Information Society. This group's report, which covers a wide range of issues, including electronic government, will be presented to Government shortly. The remaining recommendations will be considered by the Implementation Group, also in January, in the context of completing the SMI programme of action on information technology. I expect that its report will be submitted to Government early in 1999.
What concrete recommendations have been made on regulatory reform, and what difference would their implementation make?
They have not yet been put to Government. The decisions are all about attempting to reduce red tape in Government, continuing to improve the quality of service to the customers and clients, and critically reviewing existing regulations to ensure that we do not have measures holding back quick decision making.
Is this not just talk? Is there any concrete suggestion to axe any regulation or to change the format of regulation making?
In fairness to those who drafted the report, they have put forward many practical solutions, but it is a question of the Government ratifying those. They have looked at existing regulation throughout Government and have given a critical analysis where they believe we should make alterations. It is for the Government to make that decision and then for it to be implemented.
Why not publish the report before it is considered by Government? Regulatory reform is something on which every Member of the House would have a contribution to make.
It will be published as soon as it is discussed by Government. Most of what has been pulled together in earlier reports in the SMI process is already in the public domain.
What is wrong with publishing this before the Government considers it?
The Government usually clears reports, departmental memoranda and so on before they are published. This is no different.
If this is the kind of process with which Deputy Bruton, the Taoiseach and I are familiar, the content of the report would not be changed by any Government discussion or by bringing it to Cabinet. However, the Government discussion could be considerably better informed if the report were published as soon as it is ready. The Government in its discussion and in any subsequent action it might take could have regard to the discussions that take place. Would the Taoiseach not agree that in a matter of this kind, which is not partisan, the report should be published?
The reply to a supplementary question on 14 October included reference to performance related pay. At that stage the Taoiseach stated that discussions were taking place in the Civil Service relating to this and that he expected to have an additional report and substantial progress to be made before the end of this calendar year. Can the Taoiseach indicate the present position in relation to the implementation of performance related pay for the Civil Service?
On regulatory reform, that has been considered by the Implementation Group who set out a programme of action to ensure that the level of regulation in the economy is appropriate. Detailed proposals will go to Government. I do not think it unreasonable that their work should be considered by Government. Many of the proposals will be implemented. All of this information was pulled from the departmental reports which came out in May. Those reports have been refined to some extent by the Implementation Group. This has being going on since 1994 and what we are trying to do is pull it together through the Implementation Group which is a group of high level civil servants, mainly Secretaries-General, who are trying to make sense of it all and put it before Government in such a way as to enable it to be processed for implementation in the various Departments. What we are currently doing is getting information from all the other areas in the context of regulatory reform, information technology, financial systems and so on, in an effort to make decisions on them. People should not feel there is any great secret in regard to the matter. I do not think there is.
On the second issue, an amount of work has been done this year in the area of performance management. That and human resource management is what the Implementation Group spent most of 1998 working on. It has worked up some models which I have begun to discuss with the social partners. We are due to have a meeting before Christmas or shortly after with the Committee on the Public Service to discuss these. It will be difficult but at least we now have the benefit of a very detailed analysis by the Implementation Group on how this can work. It, as a committee, believes it is a working proposition. I look forward to discussing it with the Committee on the Public Service to see whether we can make progress in this area. It is a new area but much of the work being undertaken has been tried and tested elsewhere.
Is it the case that the Implementation Group to which the Taoiseach refers, or an associated body under that broad aegis, now has a concrete set of proposals for performance related pay in the Civil Service and that those proposals are being put before the Civil Service unions or Congress for consideration?
That is basically correct. I do not want to get into a position of dictating this because it is a new area, but we have a proposal for discussion.
Do the recommendations on regulatory or financial reform involve changes in legislation? If so, what are they?
These matters are going to Government for a decision. I am being asked what decisions are made before they go to Government. They will be announced in due course and some of them may require legislation. We are trying to remove red tape to make the system of Government more flexible and more acceptable to the public.
We can get this report under the Freedom of Information Act anyway, so why will the Taoiseach not publish it? If we put in a request we will get the report.
A Cheann Comhairle, I am asking you to rule on this — is it proper for me to give the result of a Government decision or a memorandum?
That is not what I asked. I asked for the report to be brought forward to be considered. The Government can do what it likes after that.
I did not say in my reply that the report is what the Government is considering. I said a memorandum was being prepared on what will go before Government. I cannot give the decisions made until the Government discusses it.
Of course not, but why can the Taoiseach not give us the report the group has prepared? We can examine that and compare its decisions to those of the Government. What is stopping the Taoiseach giving us the report?
Has the Taoiseach any answer?
