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Value for Money Reviews

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 April 2019

Thursday, 18 April 2019

Ceisteanna (34)

Richard Boyd Barrett

Ceist:

34. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his plans to carry out a value for money analysis across the public sector in advance of budget 2020 in respect of outsourcing and agency recruitment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18074/19]

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Freagraí scríofa

The Government’s Innovation and Development Framework, Our Public Service 2020, includes a commitment to promote external and alternative delivery models for new services in appropriate circumstances.    

However, decisions to outsource functions are reached on a case-by-case basis by the organisation that manages the service in question.  In line with existing expenditure policy, public bodies are generally required to look at a number of different factors when exploring the potential to outsource a function. These factors include issues such as costs, quality, service effectiveness and the public interest. This continues to be the case in respect of any new service that is being proposed for delivery by public bodies.

In concluding the Lansdowne Road Agreement in the summer of 2015, a limitation was placed on the ability of public bodies to outsource existing services. In particular, a restriction was introduced which prevented direct comparisons being made between total labour costs for direct provision of a service against the total labour costs of a potential outsourced provider in the preparation of the business case. This restriction only applies in respect of existing services; that is services that are currently being provided directly by the State or its agents. It does not apply in respect of newly conceived or planned services.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform’s role is to support public service bodies in exploring all service delivery options that are available to them and to ensure evidence-informed decisions are made when selecting a delivery model. In order to meet that objective, the Department has undertaken a substantial programme of learning and development over a number of recent years to up-skill public service managers on best practice around outsourcing using evidence-based techniques.

There are no plans for the Department to conduct a review of all outsourcing contracts within the public service.

However, officials, both within my Department and across the Civil Service, are currently engaged in progressing work in the context of the Spending Review. The Spending Review process aims to improve how public expenditure is allocated across all areas of Government. It places evidence at the heart of policy making by systematically examining existing spending programmes with a view to assessing their efficiency and effectiveness, and to support the re-allocation of funding to meet expenditure priorities.

While it is not intended to assess outsourcing and agency recruitment across the public service within this year’s review, this topic was covered in the context of the health sector in the Spending Review 2018. Further details of this research, and all Spending Review papers, can be found on the Spending Review website.

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