Eamon Gilmore
Question:1 Deputy Eamon Gilmore asked the Taoiseach the progress made regarding the implementation of the document, Transforming Public Services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23285/10]
Ceisteanna — Questions
Public Service Reform
Eamon Gilmore
Question:2 Deputy Eamon Gilmore asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on transforming public services last met. [23286/10]
Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin
Question:3 Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Taoiseach the position regarding the plan entitled Transforming Public Services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24335/10]
Enda Kenny
Question:4 Deputy Enda Kenny asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the implementation of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report on public service reform; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25055/10]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, together.
The OECD review of the Irish public service published in April 2008 benchmarked the public service in Ireland against other comparable countries and made recommendations as to the further direction of public service reform.
It confirmed the many strengths of the system and identified the challenges that needed to be addressed.
Following the launch of that report, a task force was appointed to develop an action plan building on the analysis and recommendations of the review. It completed its work in November 2008 with the publication of its report Transforming Public Services, which I launched in tandem with an accompanying Government statement. The transforming public services programme represents the blueprint for a new type of unified public service focused on common goals, with greater co-operation and reduced boundaries between sectors, organisations and professions, with a much greater integration of services around user needs and far greater efficiency in internal data sharing and administration through shared service models.
Implementation of the transformation programme is overseen by the Cabinet committee on transforming public services, which I chair. Its membership also includes the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Mary Coughlan, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney, the Minister for Justice and Law Reform, Deputy Dermot Ahern, and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy John Gormley. The Minister of State with responsibility for public service transformation, Deputy Dara Calleary, who was appointed in March to strengthen the political leadership of the transformation programme, is also a member of the Cabinet committee. Other Ministers and Ministers of State attend meetings as necessary.
The Cabinet committee on transforming public services has met on nine occasions to date. The committee last met on 24 March and will meet again tomorrow. In addition, the steering group of Secretaries General which supports the work of the Cabinet committee meets on a very regular basis. The Cabinet committee will meet regularly over the coming months to ensure progress on the implementation of the commitments in the transforming public services programme and the public service agreement 2010-14. To date, progress has been made in a number of areas of the programme.
Examples of this progress include a range of instruments in the human resource area which continue to contribute to the implementation of expenditure savings for this year, notably the incentivised scheme of early retirement in the public service, the special Civil Service career break scheme and the shorter working year scheme, together with the moratorium on the filling of public service vacancies by recruitment or promotion.
A new e-Government strategy for 2010 has been approved by the Cabinet committee. The strategy highlights new approaches to overcome some of the difficulties with putting certain services on-line and should thereby help to achieve an improvement in the use of electronic means for delivering public services. The Department of Finance is engaging bilaterally with organisations to help them with their analysis and development work. It should be noted that according to the latest European Commission e-Government benchmarks, Ireland's ranking for on-line sophistication has now improved from 17th position in 2007 to joint 7th position.
The national procurement service, established in 2009, continues to leverage the public service's buying power by organising procurement of common goods and services across the public service. During 2009, in addition to achieving better value on procurement spend, savings of €27 million were achieved by public bodies with the support of the unit. Additional savings of at least €40 million are being targeted in 2010.
Work is ongoing on specific proposals in the area of shared services on the basis that there are significant potential savings associated with such initiatives. Work is currently being advanced on shared services in a number of sectors in areas including human resources, pensions administration, payroll and financial management. The organisational review programme has been extended in order that all Departments and major offices will be reviewed over the next three years. This team, which is based in my Department, carries out and publishes assessments of the capacity of individual Departments and major offices to meet their challenges over the coming years.
Four organisations were reviewed last year, the Department of Health and Children, the Office of the Revenue Commissioners, the Central Statistics Office and the Property Registration Authority. These reviews are due to be published in early July and will be accompanied by follow-up action plans on the key findings prepared by each of the four organisations. An additional three organisations are being reviewed this year, including the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. My Department is also being reviewed this year, with this review being led by a senior official from the Department of Finance. Work is progressing on the development of new performance and governance frameworks for State agencies and the greater use of service level agreements in this context.
As Deputies are aware, the public services committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has now ratified the public service agreement 2010-14 This is a very important step in our collective efforts to meet the challenges we face, and this agreement will result in significantly enhanced public services and a more cost-effective and better integrated public service. I want to acknowledge the contribution of many people in the union movement for their leadership in securing ratification. It is the Government's intention to enter into and operate the agreement in good faith, including the provisions relating to the review of public service pay. All concerned must now work together to ensure that the agreement is implemented in a timely and ambitious manner.
For its part, the Government is instructing senior management across the entire public service to accord the highest possible priority to implementing the agenda for change set out in the agreement. We are engaging with the public services committee of ICTU to finalise membership of the management-union implementation body, which has been given a role in driving the process of change and ensuring that any difficulties which may be encountered are resolved in a fair and speedy manner.
As outlined in the Government statement on the public service agreement issued on 16 June, we will shortly announce the membership of a new public service board, with a majority of members from outside the public service, to advise the Government on further opportunities and priorities for transformation and efficiency and the capacity of the public service to lead change and deliver a high standard of performance. This will inform the approach of the Government and public service management to the transformation process over the period ahead.
In order to strengthen the capacity to lead change and deliver efficiencies as rapidly as possible, a number of senior appointments, including a chief information officer, will be made to bring greater expertise to the leadership of change in the critical areas of e-Government, shared services and public procurement. To underline the commitment to appointing the best people available from within or outside the public service to senior positions, the Government will shortly announce the details of a new approach to such recruitment by reconstituting the top level appointments committee with more outside members. In addition, to promote greater mobility at senior levels in the public service, we will also announce details of the new senior public service, encompassing initially the assignment and development of all Secretaries General and assistant secretaries and equivalents in Departments.
It is clear that the challenge of doing more with less requires a fresh approach to the design and delivery of public services and the management of the organisations responsible for them. I am confident that the public service at all levels has the capacity for change and innovation and that the terms of the Croke Park agreement provide the means of realising that capacity to the full.
I wish to ask a couple of questions arising from the Taoiseach's long and comprehensive reply. He set out a range of activities and bodies, including a programme office, a Cabinet sub-committee and an implementation body under the public service pay agreement. Will the lead Department in respect of the transformation of the public service be the Department of the Taoiseach or the Department of Finance?
I understand an implementation body is to be established under the public service pay agreement. He indicated that discussions on the establishment of that body are ongoing. When does he intend this body to be established and by whom will its chairperson be appointed? It was to be composed of three members from the management side and a further three from the public service unions, along with an independent chairperson. Is it intended that the chairperson will be appointed by agreement of both sides? Am I correct in my understanding that all the initiatives for reform and transformation, and the entire public service process, will be subject to the implementation body and that the various proposals will be put before it?
The Taoiseach indicated that reviews of four Departments are now complete and the results will be published in July, while reviews of another four Departments are under way. When these reviews are completed, is it the intention that the changes likely to take place within the Departments will be brought before the implementation body for implementation?
The question of the structures we are putting in place for transforming the public service is the subject of a joint memo from my Department and the Department of Finance. I have appointed the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, to both Departments to pull this together. I chair the Cabinet sub-committee which oversees this work. I have outlined the composition of the sub-committee.
On the question of providing people to the chief information officer, public procurement issues and the shared services issue, the appointments will be made by the Department of Finance and will operate from the Department but they will have a system wide remit to make sure we get full implementation, if one likes, of the potential savings that have been identified, particularly in the shared services area.
The board to be established, which will have a majority of outsiders on it, will drive the implementation of the transforming public services paper. It will be chaired by the Minister of State, Deputy Dara Calleary and overseen by a Cabinet committee chaired by me.
The implementation body has a specific remit or function under the public service pay agreement. In respect of the transformation areas, the transformation agreements which form part of the public service agreement will be implemented and where issues arise that need to be resolved, they will be resolved through the implementation body procedure which will short-circuit, if one likes, normal IR, Labour Relations Commission and Labour Court arrangements which have developed over a longer period. As an indication of everyone's intention to implement as quickly as possible, there are time limited periods under the agreement whereby the implementation body will make decisions on any issues referred to it within six weeks.
The implementation body is specific to the public service agreement and the transformation agreements that arise out of it in the various sectors. The overall drive for public service transformation has been outlined in the OECD report and the task force which produced the plan for implementing that. This will be done under the Civil Service board. The implementation body has a specific remit and does not feed into other issues. It deals with the specific issues under the public service agreement. The chairperson of the implementation body will be appointed by the Government. He or she will be a person who is acceptable to all and well got with everybody to do the job.
The Deputy also asked whether the remit of the implementation body was wider than the public service agreement. That is not the case. The body is there for a specific purpose, that is, to implement the agreement. Obviously, we will work in partnership with the unions in terms of the wider transforming public services issues that have to be addressed.
To clarify the role of the implementation body, my understanding was that the programme of transformation across the public service was incorporated into the public service agreement and would, therefore, be subject to the terms of the agreement. Is my understanding in this matter not correct?
In the 2009 budget the Government announced the amalgamation, reorganisation and reconfiguration of a number of State bodies. I believe a total of 30 bodies were listed at the time. What progress has been made in this regard? I understood legislation was required, certainly in respect of some of the bodies in question. Will the Taoiseach indicate what is the position in this regard?
The pay agreement makes a number of references to public service pensions. One reference is in respect of the introduction, by 1 January 2011, of legislation for a new public service pension scheme. What is the position in this regard? There was also to be a review of the method of determining pension increases for existing public service pensioners. When will this review be undertaken and when are we likely to see the outcome of it?
They are taking place during the course of this year. The implementation body is set up in the context of the agreement that was reached, therefore, it has its role to play in implementing this agreement. It is why it is called the implementing body and it will ensure that the implementation of the agreement is proceeded with. There are arrangements under the agreement as to how the implementation body will assist in every way it can, using its expertise to obtain agreement at the local level. There are issues to be resolved at the local level that would be different depending on the circumstances in terms of what redeployment is necessary and how the rosters are to be arranged. As the Deputy is aware, that is a very detailed arrangement that would be dealt with at the local level. Where an issue arises, where there is a blockage or a non-agreement on some aspect of how all that is to work, then the implementation body would deal with it and make a finding which would then inform how the matter would be resolved. In terms of the mechanics and the day-to-day implementation of the public service agreement, the implementation body has the lead role.
The question of how to develop a wider integrated public service, which is a wider agenda than simply the matter of the agreement, is being driven forward by the public service board. Again, it is not in the operational area. The operational area will remain at the level of the normal IR processes. The issue of how to develop training, management development, how to get systems in place to ensure that we change the culture and get people involved in that area, is done through the board. The political oversight of that will be through the Cabinet committee system.
Those are the arrangements and I am satisfied that there is a big body of work to be done. I have every confidence that everyone will proceed with it with a view to ensuring we get the outcomes that are agreed.
Does the Taoiseach accept that there can be no real and progressive reform of the public services while the current embargo on recruitment is in place? Would he not accept that the ban on recruitment is a very blunt instrument that takes no account of the need to maintain and improve public services to people, front-line services in particular? It is having a detrimental effect across all the public services. Is he aware of the impact it is having on our local authorities, our city and county councils in the main, which are not able to carry out all their current functions and responsibilities? Perhaps the Taoiseach is still dealing with the——
I am listening.
Very good.
I have mentioned the local authorities. Is the Taoiseach also aware of the impact it is having on our health services? In particular is he aware that over the next three years if the current recruitment embargo is to remain in place we will lose a further 6,000 posts? We will have a further 6,000 unfilled posts as a result of that embargo over the next three years if it is to remain in place as it is currently employed. Is the Taoiseach aware that more than 40% of front-line nursing staff are over the age of 50 years, which of itself must underscore the importance of a revisitation of this very blunt instrument? We will see an already chaotic position become utterly calamitous right across health service provision both in terms of acute hospital networks and all the other service provision within the primary, community and continuing care end of the HSE's responsibilities.
Does the Deputy have a question?
Both UNITE and the INMO rejected the Croke Park deal but has the Taoiseach noted they have accepted that the greater number of public service workers across all the unions representing them have decided to accept the deal, and both UNITE and the INMO have in turn accepted such a position and are now willing to work with it? In that context, would the Taoiseach be prepared to demonstrate some flexibility in the area given the evidence of the enormously negative impact of the recruitment embargo and what lies ahead if it is to remain in place? Does the Taoiseach have an opportunity, with the Croke Park deal over the line, to demonstrate flexibility in response to the critical need for revisitation of the issue in the interest of front-line services and the needs of our wider communities?
The agreement has been made and it is for all of us to proceed with its implementation and the wider transformation of public services agenda. There is an acknowledgement from everybody that the status quo will not enable us to maintain and develop public services based on the Exchequer arrangements. The moneys available are such that this must happen.
The purpose of much of this work is to the greatest extent possible maintain public services on the front line. The embargo is not rigid in that respect and there are arrangements for front-line services in various sectors. They must be applied for and positions cannot be filled automatically.
I made a point yesterday on intellectual disability services and using this or disability services in general as an example, we spend €1.2 billion on the area, with €900 million on intellectual disabilities and €300 million for physical and sensory disabilities. It is a considerable commitment to meet a need. There are many section 38 and section 39 organisations — so called under the relevant sections of the Health Acts — which deliver these services. If there are 178 agencies throughout the country providing those services and we try to maintain front-line services, we must consider those not on the front line and see what kind of initiatives will make for a more effective delivery of the service. One must consider how to join up separate payroll systems and services, as well as a range of areas that must be addressed in order to maintain front-line services. If we are not prepared to confront that agenda, we are indicating that as we do not have as much money as before, we will not be in a position to maintain services.
The front line should be and is the objective, although some support services are required because there cannot be consultants without secretaries. We all understand there are certain support frameworks necessary to make the front line work effectively. We have built up over a long period in our systems many areas that can be examined in their process of delivery. We must consider the non-front-line costs involved in maintaining such services and to what extent we can release some of those costs on the basis of rationalisation and better arrangements than those which exist currently. These are not easy issues to resolve but they must be considered in order to find solutions.
The Deputy asked a question on public service numbers in general.
The Government has confirmed that its policy on staff numbers in the public service is a matter which is independent of the draft public service agreement. However, the Government has clarified that the application of the moratorium on recruitment and promotion will be kept under review and will be revisited in each sector as staffing levels to be specified in the employment control framework for the sectors are achieved. That is the position in respect of that matter.
On the general point made by the Deputy, I am very much of the view that we must proceed with implementation of the agreement as it stands. I do not believe a question of our revisiting the agreement arises. We have only just obtained, through a process of consultation and balloting, an outcome in respect of this agreement and must now implement it. It is a challenging and ambitious agreement, one which provides for a series of changes which I believe most people would welcome and that are necessary in the context of the circumstances in which we find ourselves. On the issue of employment levels and so on, the agreed redeployment measures and flexibility in regard to rosters, which bring their own savings in terms of how and in what way people are working, will assist us in maintaining public services to the greatest extent possible. We will through redeployment be able to release people from work in one area to another where necessary. That is the situation as envisaged in the agreement. We must get on with implementing rather than revisiting the agreement.
In response to the previous questions in regard to the changes envisaged in respect of public service pensions, it was announced in budget 2010 that a new single public service pension scheme would be introduced for new entrants to the public service. The necessary legislation and scheme to put this in place will be introduced later this year. Deputies will be aware of the main provisions of the national pensions framework in this regard. Other details of the new scheme will be considered by the Government in finalising relevant legislation following consultation between the Department of Finance and public service employers and unions, which is now under way. The introduction of a new single pensions scheme will provide significant opportunities for administrative efficiencies to be introduced and will, in particular, allow for much greater centralisation of pension management and administration.
The Deputy also raised the issue of existing pensions. As I stated, the draft agreement provides that discussions on the pensions of existing public service pensioners and current public servants will take place in spring 2011 in the context of the review of pay. I have already clarified that the Minister for Finance is reviewing the current arrangements. In the prevailing circumstances, the Government has clarified that no change in the current arrangement for the indexation of pensions for current public service pensioners and serving public servants will be implemented during the period of the agreement. It has acknowledged that nothing in the draft agreement commits the union side to any position on the issues involved. The Government also accepts the dispute resolution provisions set out in the draft agreement do not apply to the proposed engagements on pensions in spring 2011. A separate process of engagement between the Department of Finance and trade union representatives is under way to discuss pension scheme arrangements for new public servants.
In response to the Taoiseach's reply — I will leave the additional information provided by him to Deputy Gilmore — I make no apology for revisiting the issue of the health services. I am not at all surprised that the INMO voted as it did. Is the Taoiseach not aware that the INMO presented alternative proposals in regard to the operation of a recruitment ban across the health services that would result in an adjustment in favour of front-line staff, including nurses, midwives and other critical staff?
The difference would be made up from non-essential management and administration staff who are not front-line players in the overall HSE configuration. Has the Taoiseach given any consideration to the INMO proposals, which make great sense to the overwhelming number of people, particularly those who are waiting to access services but cannot do so because the system is understaffed and unable to cope with the presenting and potential throughputs? When one deals with each individual case, one finds that the families of individual patients are distressed about this situation, as are the front-line service providers. Now that the Croke Park deal has gone across the line, will the Taoiseach not take a fresh look at this matter, in a spirit of magnanimity and in recognition of the great and real distress that exists? Will he respond accordingly — in an appropriate spirit — in the interests of patient safety and care in the first instance?
As the Deputy is aware, the public services committee of Congress ratified the public service agreement at its meeting of 15 June last. That agreement provides a comprehensive agenda for public service transformation. It provides a framework for public service pay determination over the period to 2014. It provides a framework for the detailed discussions that will now take place at local level. The health service redeployment protocol, which is set out in chapter 6 of the agreement, governs the changes that are now put in place. The agreement also provides for competence reskilling, education and training and for an appeal process. There are four paragraphs relating to essential redeployment in the agreement. The implementation of the redeployment protocol will be monitored by a steering committee comprising three management and three trade union nominees. The committee may recommend, through the national joint council, amendments or enhancements to the scheme, including opportunities for reskilling and retraining based on experience gained through its operation. The Deputy has suggested that we should renegotiate this section of the agreement to accommodate a particular union's view on the matter. While I respect the views of unions on these matters, the public service committee of Congress has, through its balloting procedures, come up with a majority that is in favour of implementing the agreement. We should now implement the agreement, work with everybody with the maximum of goodwill to get the changes in place on the ground and ensure that what has been agreed is implemented.
Some 26 months have passed since the OECD report came in. Some 18 months have passed since the task force on public service reform, which followed that report, was asked to present its three-year plan to the Government. In November 2008, the Taoiseach said there was a need to move quickly and decisively to allow as many services as possible to be accessed by means of e-government 24 hours a day, seven days a week What progress can he report on that? What proportion of Departments have e-government services that can be accessed by the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week? According to the Taoiseach, this was meant to be an important element of the report to the Government. Where are we on that?
According to the latest EU Commission e-government benchmarks, we have improved our ranking from 17th to seventh over the past two to three years. The same benchmarks place Ireland in the top two for e-procurement services. Examples of on-line services that have been progressed in the recent past include the census information and search facilities; the on-line system for the payment of charges on non-principal private residences; the on-line application for birth, marriage and death certificates; the automatic reminders when driving licences and passports expire; payment of the majority of court fines electronically; and the on-line declaration to the Garda Síochána for minor crimes. The customer does not need to know the relevant Garda station as back-end processes ensure they are routed correctly. We are one of the few countries in Europe that has put in place a high-speed national government network to which all public bodies can connect using any telecommunications operator in the Irish marketplace. The Department of Finance is currently working with Departments, offices and agencies to develop a rolling programme of e-government projects. In this regard, Departments are developing detailed e-government plans.
Progress has been made on these specific projects in recent times. Others are being rolled out. Now that we have a public service agreement on transformation across all the main sectors — health, education and others, which are outlined in the agreement — we will be able to progress these projects and accelerate the e-government role. The collation of electronic data and the availability of data across the system would greatly enhance the delivery of our public services. In that respect, we are looking at legislative changes in the Public Service Management Act to facilitate this issue and overcome some data protection questions.
Public service reform is one of the fundamental and critical issues faced by the country. The Department of Finance said recently that it wants responsibility for this to be vested in that Department. The Minister for Finance has ordered an examination of how the Department does its business. However, I understand that only two officials in the Department have banking expertise and that there are no statisticians at all in the Department. The Taoiseach has allocated responsibility for public service reform to my constituency colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Dara Calleary. Given that reform is so fundamental to the efficient provision of services across all Departments and Government agencies, does the Taoiseach not consider this to warrant real clout at Cabinet, with direct input from the Taoiseach's office, to make it work?
The Fine Gael Party took a particular view on the Croke Park agreement. We would like to see the deal go through and would honour the pay element of it, with a different mandate in respect of public service reform. This is a win-win situation for the trade unions, the people who work in the public service and the general public. As Head of Government, does the Taoiseach not think this issue deserves one of the most powerful Ministers to drive it through all Departments? I say this with respect to Deputy Calleary, who has been given responsibility for this matter.
I chair a Cabinet committee which has that overall responsibility but one must have an operational framework and an agreed way forward. It is best to do this on an agreed basis, where one sits down in partnership with employee representatives and management working off an agreed template as to how one is going to implement changes. A level of transformation has been agreed with regard to these matters and in these sectors. These changes have been on the agenda for a long time and are now available for implementation.
The process of negotiation, agreement and subsequent ratification has taken some time but it was time that needed to be invested so that people would see the win-win situation to which the Deputy referred. Thankfully, we have an outcome that enables us to go forward.
As I said in my initial reply, there have been developments in e-government, public procurement and other issues, such as the shared services agenda, which are being pushed along. This public service agreement gives all of us the mechanism, so to speak, by which we can go ahead and do what we all want, namely, to see in what way we can provide the most effective and efficient public service possible, using all the potential that exists, not only within the public service and among the people who work there but also using various initiatives such as e-government and others that will assist in ensuring the costs of providing those services are the most effective, as far as the taxpayer is concerned.