Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 January 2014
8. Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide an update on outsourcing in all Government Departments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2698/14]
View answerThe Government is committed to exploring alternative models for the delivery of public services, in the interests of providing better customer service and driving down costs. I have reiterated this commitment in the new Public Service Reform Plan 2014-2016, which I published last week. One of the four key themes in the new Reform Plan is the delivery of improved outcomes for service users through the use of new models of delivery, including the use of external providers where appropriate.
Good progress has already been made by Government in this area, as set out in the Second Progress Report on the Public Service Reform Plan, which I also published last week. In July 2012, we agreed a range of actions aimed at achieving a focused and integrated approach to the external delivery of non-core processes, with the objective of reducing costs and focusing staff resources on priority areas.
All new services must be tested for external service delivery suitability before any approval to deliver the service internally will be granted. For example, the Revenue Commissioners have appointed a third party call service centre to deal with queries on the Local Property Tax.
The major sectors of Health, Justice and Local Government have prepared and are now implementing detailed benefits-driven external service delivery plans. The Education sector; the Departments of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Social Protection; the Office of Public Works and the Revenue Commissioners are finalising their plans, which will be brought to Government shortly, and we have made a commitment in the new Reform Plan that all remaining Departments and Offices will prepare and submit plans by the end of the third quarter of this year.
A cross-organisational evaluation of the Debt Management functions of a number of public bodies has been completed and the project board overseeing this process will be bringing a set of proposals for the future delivery of these services to Government shortly.
We are building capacity and capability through training programmes, workshops and seminars. An external service delivery handbook and preliminary business case template has been developed and distributed to public servants.
