The Government welcome the decision by the Public Services Committee of the ICTU to ratify the terms of the Croke Park Agreement. The Government believe that the terms of the Agreement provide a basis for stability and progress to the benefit of Public Servants and citizens alike.
The agreed agenda for change across all sectors of the Public Service provides a framework within which greater efficiency in delivering for the citizen can be secured, while providing a basis for confidence about pay levels and security of employment in the Public Service for the future. The Agreement recognises the contribution which Public Servants have already made to the necessary process of budgetary adjustment to secure economic recovery and renewal. The energetic implementation of the Agreement provides the best assurance for the future.
The Government reiterate their commitment to implementing the terms of the Agreement with absolute good faith. In that regard, the Government will engage immediately with the Public Services Committee of ICTU to finalise the membership of the Implementation Body which has been given a role in driving forward the process of change and ensuring that any difficulties which may be encountered are resolved in a fair and speedy manner.
For its part, the Government will be instructing senior management across the entire Public Service to accord the highest possible priority to implementing the agenda for change set out in the Agreement. Substantial preparatory work has already taken place across the Public Service and progress on detailed implementation plans will be reviewed by the Implementation Body in due course. There will be a particular focus on the scope for realising efficiencies through the redeployment of personnel to more urgent priorities, in line with the terms of the Agreement. The savings generated by these changes will provide the basis for the review of pay levels set to take place in Spring 2011.
The Government will shortly announce the membership of a new Public Service Board, with a majority of members from outside the Public Service, which will advise the Government on opportunities and priorities for transformation and efficiency, and on the capacity of the Public Service to lead change and to deliver a high standard of performance. This will inform the approach of the Government and Public Service management to the transformation process over the period ahead.
In order to strengthen the capacity to lead change and deliver efficiencies as rapidly as possible, a number of senior appointments (including a Chief Information Officer (CIO)) will be made to bring greater expertise to the leadership of change in the critical areas of e-government, shared services and public procurement.
To underline the commitment to appointing the best people available from within or outside the Public Service to senior positions, the Government will shortly announce the details of a new approach to such recruitment – by re-constituting the Top Level Appointments Committee with more outside members. In addition, to promote greater mobility at senior levels in the Public Service, we will also announce details of the new Senior Public Service, encompassing, initially, the assignment and development of all Secretaries General and Assistant Secretaries and equivalents in Government Departments.
The challenge of doing more with less requires a fresh approach to the design and delivery of public programmes and the management of the organisations responsible for them. This requires a commitment to innovation as great as in any private sector enterprise and a critical review of current governance, financial, service delivery and work practice arrangements. The Government are confident that the Irish Public Service, at all levels, has the capacity for change and innovation, and that the terms of the Croke Park Agreement provide the means of realising that capacity to the full.
ENDS