Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 March 2019
170. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the role he expects for reform throughout the public sector to impact on economic performance in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10941/19]
View answer172. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the most effective reforms undertaken throughout the public and private sectors over the past number of years which have contributed substantially to economic progress; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10943/19]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 170 and 172 together.
I am pleased to inform the Deputy that the significant public service reforms that this Government has undertaken in recent years continue to deliver improved services and value for money across a range of specific areas such as governance, accountability, procurement, shared services, organisational reform and property management. Two notable examples are the establishment of a centralised Office of Government Procurement with responsibility (together with the key sectors of Health, Defence, Education and Local Government) for sourcing goods and services on behalf of the Public Service, and the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, established to lead the implementation of the Public Service ICT Strategy in cooperation with departments and agencies across the Public Service. The Deputy can be assured that public service reform remains an integral part of the Government’s economic strategy to enable us to continue to improve outcomes for the public. As regards the private sector, the Government agreed last July to develop a new and ambitious whole of Government plan to ensure our economy is well positioned for the rapidly changing global and economic environment. This initiative - Future Jobs, which will be launched shortly - will include concrete and ambitious actions to enhance productivity, ensure quality and sustainable jobs, and build sustainability and innovation into the economy.
Our Public Service 2020 – the current phase of public service reform which became operational during 2018 – represents a whole-of-public-service initiative designed to build on previous reforms while expanding the scope of reform to focus on collaboration, innovation and evaluation. Our Public Service 2020 seeks better outcomes for the public, to support innovation and collaboration and to build public service organisations that are resilient and agile.
As Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform I must ensure that our fiscal and public expenditure policy is sustainable and that Public Sector policy continues to facilitate good economic performance in the future. There are a number of budgetary reforms introduced in recent years to guide my decisions on overall fiscal policy in this regard, including fiscal rules, expenditure ceilings and spending reviews. The actions in Our Public Service 2020 will also ensure that the focus of the public service is very much on delivery of quality public services over the coming years, without impacting negatively on economic performance.
Our Public Service 2020 contains an added focus on evaluation and on the importance of building a reform evaluation culture and in developing indicators to support an outcomes focus. With this goal in mind, within my Department we have established a Reform Evaluation Unit to focus on monitoring and evaluating the outcomes of reform as well as creating greater links between expenditure and reform.
