Vol. 410 No. 3
40 Mr. Byrne asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the comments made by the general secretary of the Civil and Public Service Union at his union's annual conference on 26 May 1991 that a new system of administrative budgeting in Government Departments could cause a further loss of civil service jobs; if he will outline his reaction to these comments; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I have seen press reports of the comments referred to in the Deputy's question. As I have stated on numerous occasions, the administrative budget initiative has the twin aims of (a) reducing the overall cost of administration in the Civil Service and (b) improving the quality of Civil Service management. These aims will be achieved through the delegation of much greater authority to individual line managers for the more efficient use of the various administrative resources — staffing, overtime, travel and subsistence, computer expenditure, office premises expenses, postal and telecommunication expenses — at their disposal in order to deliver the services required by our citizens.
I would not accept that the initiative should be automatically equated with fewer jobs in the Civil Service. Clearly, however, each Department and each manager of every section in the Civil Service will have to examine her or his operation to see if it is operating as cost effectively as possible and, if not, to determine what changes are required. It may well be that this process will lead to different employment patterns in particular Departments and sections but that is a matter for the Departments concerned.
