Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 October 2013
282. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the structural reforms he has in mind to follow the short-term holding position achieved under the Haddington Road agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41487/13]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, the Government’s Public Service Reform Plan was published in November 2011 and set out an agenda for long-term sustainable reform of the Public Service. This represents a key element of the Government’s response to the economic situation and the need to continue to deliver important services, in the face of increased demands and reduced staff numbers and budgets.
This phase of reform has included a very strong focus on implementation and delivery of reform, and substantial progress has been made in areas such as reducing costs, improving efficiency and enhancing service delivery.
The final report on progress under the Croke Park Agreement concluded that it facilitated significant cost savings, amounting to €1.8 billion over its lifetime, comprising of almost €1 billion in pay savings and over €800m in non-pay efficiency savings, while also ensuring the delivery of a large number of reforms across all sectors of the Public Service.
The Haddington Road Agreement, which came into force on 1 July, sets out the basis for a further contribution of €1 billion by the public service pay and pensions bill to our fiscal recovery, through a series of equitable and sustainable measures. These measures will allow for the creation of a more streamlined and unified public service.
The Agreement also represents the largest productivity deal in the history of the State and will deliver an unprecedented increase in productivity across the Public Service through the provision of almost 15 million additional working hours by public servants. This will help deliver long term and sustainable increases in productivity by reducing the requirement for paid overtime hours and agency costs and allowing management to maintain services against the backdrop of decreasing staff numbers, without any impact on services.
It should be noted that the Agreement is not a short-term measure, rather it is a three-year agreement which will deliver long term sustainable reform in the Public Service, building on the significant change already delivered.
Almost two years since the Public Service Reform Plan was published, work is now underway to develop a renewed wave of reforms to build on progress to-date and refresh the current reform plan. The Renewed Plan will address next steps for the existing reform areas set out in the current Public Service Reform Plan, as well as the identification of some new areas for reform.
