Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 December 2023
272. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform the key policy achievements realised and new initiatives taken by his Department during 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54792/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraDuring 2023, the staff of my Department have worked collaboratively on a wide range of policies and initiatives to deliver on the strategic goals set out in the Department's Statement of Strategy 2023-2025 to drive the delivery of better public services, living standards and infrastructure for the people of Ireland under three key strategic goals: Enhancing Governance; Building Capacity; and Delivering Effectively.
In addition to the Strategy implementation, my Department continues to safeguard the sustainability of public expenditure. This includes the strategic management of well-targeted and sustainable public spending and the negotiation and allocation of €95.9 billion of funding for 2023.
Some of the main policy achievements this year include:
• The publication of the 2023 – 2027 Open Data Strategy to promote transparency and innovation in Ireland.
• The publication of the Better Public Services Strategy, a new Strategy to 2030 for the Public Service, and development of associated Action Plan for Designing Better Public Services.
• Establishment of National Communication Committee for Cohesion Policy Funds, RRF and BAR.
• Launch of €1.1bn PEACEPLUS cross-border EU programme.
• Launch of Ireland’s two 2021-27 ERDF programmes – total value €850m.
• Launch of EPPM ICT finance and claim administration system for 2021-27 ERDF and other EU funds.
• Operational arrangements for NRRP put in place and first payment request submitted.
• Department input into European Semester and other EU matters and representation on EU interdepartmental groups.
• Budget 2024 delivered within parameters set by Government and negotiated in Summer Economic Statement.
• Delivery of Mid-Year Expenditure Report.
• Publication of Spending Review 2023 papers.
• Commencement of amended Protected Disclosures Act and publication of statutory guidance to assist public bodies in handling protected disclosures made to them under the Act.
• Establishment of the Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner.
• Enactment of the Regulation of Lobbying and Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) Amendment Act 2023.
• Publication of the Report of the Review of Ireland’s Statutory Framework for Ethics in Public Life.
• Central Government Accounting Standards (CGAS) and Central Government Accounting Manual (CGAM), priority standards and manuals ready for issue and publication.
• Successful delivery of a number of significant reforms to Public Works Contracts to address uncertainty and risk in response to continuing challenges in the construction market.
• Improving the risk/reward balance of public works contracts through the introduction of caps on liability and reform of the price variation mechanisms to encourage a greater level of competition for public works tenders.
• Price Variation Workbooks have been prepared to support contracting authorities in calculating price adjustments due to inflation.
• New Cost Control Templates incorporating the International Cost Management Standard (ICMS) to allow benchmarking and reporting of construction project cost and carbon. The new version, ICMS 3, provides a way of presenting capital and whole life costs in a consistent format.
• Publication of Circular 05/2023: Initiatives to assist SMEs in Public Procurement.
• Publication of updated Public Procurement Guidelines for Goods and Services.
• New eForms (digital public procurement notices) made available for use on eTenders.
• Collaboration with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications on the development of the Green Public Procurement Strategy and Action Plan.
• Publication of the Government Chief Information Officer Base Registry and Date Reuse Survey Report.
• Establishment of Communications and Engagement Committee and Data Safeguarding and Transparency Committee for the Data Governance Board.
• 9 Data Sharing Agreements (DSAs) completed the governance process under the Data Sharing Governance Framework
• Publication of 2023 Annual Report for the Data Governance Board.
• Publication of online DSA Register which provides details of all DSAs prepared (16) under the DSGA, along with Board recommendations on each.
• Publication of DSGA Model Data Sharing Agreement Template.
• S.I. exempting the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) as a public body under the Data Sharing & Governance Act 2019 (DSGA).
• S.I. Order to Delegate Allocation and Issuing of UBI to the Revenue Commissioners under the DSGA.
• Development of Online National Single Information Point for the EU DGA (on Public Service Data Catalogue platform).
• Development of an Online API Catalogue (on Public Service Data Catalogue platform).
• Publication of Digital for Good: Ireland’s Digital Inclusion Roadmap to help make Ireland one of the most digitally inclusive States in the EU.
• The publication of Menopause in the Workplace Policy Framework for the Civil Service to commit all Civil Service employers to recognise the impact of menopause and actively support all employees who are affected.
• Publication of a Domestic Violence and Abuse Policy for the Civil service, which sets out statutory entitlements to domestic violence leave and other employment supports for civil servants.
• Providing appropriate funding for a whole of Government response to meeting our climate ambitions and Housing for All targets.
The Deputy may also wish to note that further details in relation to policy achievements in 2023 will be set out in my Department's Annual Report 2023, which will be published in Quarter 2 2024.
A broad range of information and updates about the Department's key policy areas are published on its section of the gov.ie website at the following link:
www.gov.ie/en/organisation/department-of-public-expenditure-and-reform/.
