Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 10 November 2004
1 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Taoiseach the progress made to date with regard to the implementation of the modernisation action plan submitted by his Department to the Civil Service performance verification group in July 2003; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21341/04]
View answer2 Mr. Kenny asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the implementation of the modernisation action plan submitted by his Department under the benchmarking agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24034/04]
View answer3 Mr. Sargent asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the implementation of the modernisation action plan submitted by his Department to the Civil Service performance verification group in 2003; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26386/04]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, together.
The modernisation programme in my Department is being implemented in conjunction with a demanding ongoing programme of work, including in recent times, Ireland's successful Presidency of the European Union and the mid-term review of Sustaining Progress. Since the Department's action plan was submitted to the performance verification group in July 2003, good progress has been made across the full range of modernisation themes.
To date, three progress reports, covering each of the commitments in the plan, have been submitted for the consideration of the performance verification group. Following assessment of the first two reports, the group highlighted progress in a number of areas as being of particular merit, including: the Department's programme of internal audit and expenditure reviews, which focus on value and accountability in resource allocation; the development of the e-Cabinet system, representing a new way to conduct Government business; the successful pilot of the customer charter, to further improve customer service; and the implementation of the management information framework and human resource management system, to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the administration of the Department. The group also acknowledged innovative measures to improve performance through staff training, as well as the positive findings received through external and internal assessments of a number of areas.
The focus of our modernisation programme to date has necessarily been on the efficiency of our systems and the development of our people as the critical success factors for the delivery of improved services. The emphasis over the next reporting period will be on maximising performance and productivity through availing fully of the potential of these enablers. My Department is awaiting the verification group's response to our third progress report. It has also drawn up a programme of actions which build on the extensive work already progressed, to take account of the additional duration and pay increases provided for in the mid-term review of Sustaining Progress. I am satisfied that sufficient progress has been made to date by my Department in its modernisation objectives.
Does the Taoiseach agree with me that while what he has just read out may be very meaningful, on the other hand it could be complete gobbledygook? An entire industry is now writing English that is completely impenetrable. It may mean something or it may not mean anything. If the man or woman on the street were to phone the Department of the Taoiseach now how would he or she know about these improvements or that they had been made as a result of the implementation of the modernisation plan? I ask the Taoiseach to explain to the House in his customary layman's English — never mind that old consultancy garbage — what it means for the ordinary person.
It should be torn up.
For example, logging on to the website of the Department of the Taoiseach would leave the impression that a great deal remains to be done yet. It is a rather poor website when compared with other Departments. It is lazily tended to, out of date and not very imaginative.
It is a fair question to ask how the ordinary person in the street would know about the improvements. Under the customer charter the Department has involved the users in many ways to determine what they expect, what they consider the service should be and what improvements they seek. This has been done in recent years. Many initiatives have been introduced: working longer; working through lunchtime; dealing directly with the public; getting back to the public within fixed times; following up both phone calls and, increasingly, e-mails in a shorter span of time; trying to give more detail and be more helpful to customers; trying to give people more expansive replies to avoid the need for them to come back two or three times, which tended to be the way in the past, based on what the customers said; and using technology to its fullest. Whatever about my Department's website, the website used during the Presidency and up to the end of September, which was the one on which we focused, had approximately 40 million hits. That has been useful.
The Department is now doing more work with less staff. Under the verification process the Department has had to operate with 4% less staff, within which we have lived. This has been important in giving cost savings. We have also introduced much better management arrangements whereby each cost head in the Department is aware of the expenses and salaries to allow them try to cut down their costs and use resources more efficiently. This never existed before. People just worked within a section and were never aware of the expenses or charges on their area. All of these things have been done and make it more meaningful based on what I hear from the staff. They know their costs, what they must live within and the targets they need to achieve. For the ordinary civil servant, particularly those on the lower and middle grades, it is far more interesting to work, as they feel more involved.
I agree with the Deputy and accept that management language always tends to be written a particular way. As I said earlier, the Department in its customer service research has engaged very actively with the people who use the Department to find out whether they are happy, what they expect and what improvements need to be made. Officials from the Department have implemented these rather than staying in their own ivory tower believing they are doing a great job without consulting. That is working very well.
Are the tours of Government Buildings still being organised and if so how frequently? Do these take place under the aegis of the Department of the Taoiseach?
Yes. The tours take place certainly on Saturdays and I think on Sundays also. They are still well attended in the summer season, although the numbers fall off at this time of the year.
I notice the Taoiseach is lame this morning. I do not know if he got a kick from a horse but he will not lead any of the tours for a couple of weeks.
I visited the neurosurgical ward in Beaumont Hospital and spoke to the young nurse in charge. She explained how the ward can change from tranquillity to emergency footing in an instant.
The question refers specifically to the Department of the Taoiseach.
Deputy Kenny is merely illustrating the point.
What is the Taoiseach's opinion on acuity recognition? People in his Department do not live with the same pressure and stress as those in that neurosurgical ward. We are discussing a modernisation action plan under the benchmarking agreement and I am asking for his opinion. If the Ceann Comhairle wants to rule me out of order, that is fair enough.
The three questions relate specifically to the plan as it affects the Taoiseach's Department.
The Information Society Commission, under the aegis of the Department of the Taoiseach, produced a report in June 2003 on the national e-payment strategy. E-payment facilitates avoidance of fraud, money laundering and tax evasion and would save up to €400 million a year, with €70 million of that going directly to Government. What progress has been made in achieving this under the modernisation action plan? Does the Chief Whip, who has responsibility for e-Government, think it is feasible? If we are one of the top five countries in the world, there should be real action, with all of these payments being issued electronically. We are one of the last countries to issue so many payments by cheque.
People work under pressure in every Department. They may not be doing surgical operations, a huge responsibility I do not take from, but many of them work long hours and are flexible. Increasingly, and to their credit, civil servants start earlier, work later and work weekends as required. Great flexibility was demonstrated during the EU Presidency without any argument, with people working a seven day week system because much of work was done at weekends. They do the same during negotiations on Northern Ireland and other issues.
An effort is being made to get the remaining people who are being paid by cheque on to the computer payment system for all of the reasons outlined by Deputy Kenny. The figure stands at 96% and we are targeting the final, reluctant people who like to see the cheque rather than have a payment going directly into the bank account. The same goes for payments, where we are near total coverage. It is faster and safer, as the Deputy pointed out.
The Information Society Commission demonstrates the commitment of Government to be in the forefront of the information society internationally and to improving services through progressing and consolidating technological responses to business needs. Through, for example, e-Cabinet and information society developments, we have developed better policies involving the planning for and integration of new developments. We now work according to the performance indicators listed by the verification group. The group set them down professionally and the Department officials must live with that.
The e-Government system affects all Departments and is moving forward in phases. The next phase starts this month, where we will try to eliminate the mountains of paper generated by the old systems. Progress is well advanced and we should be close to a conclusion in the next six months. It will make an enormous difference not just to Cabinet meetings but to Departments and how they deal with the information available to them. In June a trial run resulted in 10,000 sheets of paper being saved just by sending a memo electronically. The savings in time and effort, and the superior quality of information, will take some time to feed in. The system is being used in many Departments now and during 2005 it will be well implemented. Staff have agreed to this without the old ritual negotiation of technology payments.
Does the Taoiseach agree that the modernisation action plan is not just for his own Department but should set the standard for all Departments, local authorities and the public and private sectors? I was surprised at the lack of awareness at a consultation meeting for local authorities last night on the needs of blind people. The modernisation plan has a target of people with disabilities making up 3% of employees. Is that target being reached? The improvement of accessibility to Government Buildings for those with a disability was another goal. What progress has been made on that front? The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform has some work to do in this regard.
The question refers explicitly to the Department of the Taoiseach.
Can the Taoiseach indicate if those objectives have been met in his own Department? Will they have an impact on this Chamber, which is inaccessible to a great extent? When will Government Buildings be totally accessible?
On the development and implementation of a gender equality policy, what progress has been made in the number of principal officer and assistant principal officer posts in his Department that are filled by women? The objective is set at 40% but is there a timescale for achieving that figure?
The target for employment of people with disabilities is 3% and in my Department, 3.7% of employees have a disability. The lower rooms in Government Buildings are accessible to those with disabilities and there is a lift that can bring people to the higher rooms. Not every part of the building is accessible to people with a disability but the main meeting areas are regularly used to meet delegations from the main disability groups and most of the building is now accessible. A few years ago a major effort was made to make the Oireachtas accessible and while it has been cumbersome, the system works well for the disabled.
There has been a major change in the gender balance in the higher grades in the public service in recent years. In most Departments there are not the problems that used to exist at assistant secretary and principal officer level. The numbers may not have fed into Secretary General level but it is only a matter of time. Many of the key people in most of our Departments are females who are doing an excellent job. We have turned that position around and there are female Assistant Secretaries in all Departments. I do not know the percentage but I do not think there is a the same problem as previously. There are always targets to try to ensure firmness in that regard.
There has been a huge amount of change. The Civil Service Regulation (Amendment) Bill will devolve functions in regard to appointments, performance and discipline to a more appropriate level. It will not be at the top. Codes and standards of behaviour have been published. Changes have been made to public service pensions. Last year, for the first time, the Civil Service held open competitions to recruit staff for higher executive officer and assistant principal levels. There has also been an evaluation of the performance management and development system, which has changed the whole mechanism of negotiations between the Civil Service and the unions. There are better regulation, customer service and financial management issues. There is a host of issues which have been brought in and all are working well. As I said to Deputy Rabbitte, they are all working to make life more interesting and maybe demanding for civil servants who are not only part of something that is going on but who, on a weekly basis, are far more involved in putting together annual reports and annual plans. I know from civil servants that this has certainly brought about a far greater interest in their work.
