Social Protection Committee publishes Public Service Performance Report for the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Rural and Community Development, 2023

Read the report and its recommendations in full here. 

 The PSPR is a public-focused, accessible report providing an overview on what was delivered with public money for each Government Department over the period January 2023 – December 2023.

 The PSPR is a milestone in the parliamentary budgetary cycle, providing a more structured calendar of parliamentary oversight of the budgetary process. The core function of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands is to monitor the performance of the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Rural and Community Development, and the PSPR is a key tool in fulfilling that role.

Speaking on the report, Committee Cathaoirleach Deputy Denis Naughten said: “Dáil Sectoral Committees are tasked with the consideration of a number of budgetary milestones of the annual parliamentary budgetary cycle that fall within their remit. This report will focus on the Public Service Performance Report 2023.

“This Committee engages with the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Rural and Community Development to examine the spending allocations and associated outputs in this regard.

“This report by the Joint Committee is the culmination of 18 months of work beginning during the Revised Estimates in February 2023, including an engagement in October of 2023 as well as this year’s meeting looking at potential performance metrics in June 2024.”

“Performance-based budgeting aims to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of public expenditure by linking the funding of public expenditure by linking the funding of public sector organisations to the results they delivery by making systematic use of performance information.”

 “It is an ongoing opportunity for the Committee to make the process more transparent and to engage in a meaningful way on the parliamentary budget cycle.”

 The report makes 9 recommendations, outlined below:

1. The Committee recommends that all departments seek the views of the relevant sectoral committee(s) on the draft metrics – this would significantly increase the usefulness of the metrics from committees’ perspectives, and drive engagement and financial scrutiny of public expenditure. The Committee recommends that DPENDR take steps to build this engagement into the budgetary cycle.

2. The Committee recommends that the Minister for Social Protection should provide additional real-time data from within their own systems to assist members in making more informed decisions and ensure such programmes better serve their constituents.

3. The Committee recommends that the Minister for Social Protection should include data on the number of people who move from welfare to schemes such as the Working Family Payment should therefore be included in the PSPR.

4. The Committee recommends that the Minister for Social Protection should include a greater emphasis and information on indicators for the transition away from One-Parent Family Payment towards the Working Family Payment and part-time work through PRSI contribution data.

5. The Committee recommends that the Minister for Social Protection provide the Committee with a data subset of new applicants approved for the Carer’s Support Grant which should include information on the number of Carer’s Support Grants being issued to people who are not in receipt of another welfare payment tracking the application trend following a reinvigorated advertising campaign by the Department of Social Protection.

6. The Committee recommends that the Minister for Social Protection focus on reducing overpayments by increasing the awareness of the implications of financial institution savings and other financial changes on benefit entitlements.

7. The Committee recommends that the Minister for Social Protection seek regular structured feedback from social welfare recipients such as one-parent families and those with disabilities. This would help the Department to better understand the real-world impact of its policies and make necessary adjustments to better meet the needs of its beneficiaries.

8. The Committee recommends the publication of an additional ‘Progress Evaluation Report´ which would include the requested statistics outlined in this submission and the report on the Sustainable Development Goals, to assist the Committee in gaining a better oversight of the policy actions and objectives of the Department. This report could include data from econometric evaluations, SWITCH model insights or results from surveys and studies.

9. The Committee recommends that the Committee on Budgetary Oversight commence an engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform on how best to fulfil the needs of the Oireachtas as highlighted in this Committee report and the 2016 OECD review.