Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 May 2004
243 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if a management information framework, as recommended by the Mullarkey committee, has been put in place in her Department; and if she will explain the way it works. [15048/04]
View answerThe management information framework, MIF, aims at ensuring more efficient processing of financial transactions and accounts, better decision-making about allocation of resources, more efficient and effective management of resources once allocated and greater transparency in and accountability for the use of resources. The MIF is a key part of the strategic management initiative, SMI, and arose out of a report in 1999 prepared for the SMI implementation group.
The Mullarkey committee report of July 2002, acknowledged the MIF initiative under the SMI as a key element in supporting both the Secretary General and the accounting officer and in improving the link between financial analysis and decision-making.
A programme to develop and roll-out the MIF across the Civil Service has been established centrally under the auspices of the Department of Finance. All Departments are required under the MIF to establish formal MIF projects. In my Department, the development and roll-out of the MIF is being overseen by a project board which includes representatives from the main business divisions of the Department. My Department is also represented on the consultative committee and the project management sub-group for the overall MIF project.
The Department has had a computerised financial system in place since 1998 and the main emphasis of the MIF implementation project has been focused on the development of comprehensive and integrated management information systems. To date, this has involved the identification, scoping and implementation, as appropriate, of a number of specific initiatives. These include: projects on staff coding; development of management reports at the business and senior management levels; development of costing policies; improvement and development of performance indicators; the development of training and awareness strategies; statistical database development; the consideration of a customer contact system; participation in a centrally managed pilot on resource allocation and budgeting process; and accrual accounting.
Substantial progress has been made on the project in my Department and it has been identified as one of five key priority areas in the Department's modernisation action plan drawn up under the terms of Sustaining Progress.
