Minister of State Calleary welcomes ratification of the Croke Park Deal

Press Statement

The Minister of State with responsibility for Public Service Transformation, Dara Calleary, T.D., has welcomed the decision by ICTU's Public Services Committee to ratify the Public Service Agreement 2010-2014.

"We now have an unprecedented opportunity for Public Service transformation for the benefit of citizens and public servants alike. It is my intention to ensure that we maximise this opportunity to meet both current and future challenges. There is much hard work ahead and all concerned will need to be pro-active and ambitious in implementing this Agreement".

The Minister added that "the implementation of the Croke Park Deal will allow for a much more flexible, more integrated and more responsive Public Service. We now have a shared vision of an integrated Public Service which is leaner and more effective, focused more on the needs of the citizen and which continues its contribution to the return of economic growth and prosperity to Ireland."

The Minister also referred to the importance of the initiatives outlined in today's Government Statement which include:

early engagement with the ICTU Public Services Committee to finalise the membership of the management / union Implementation Body which will play a role in driving forward the process of change;
the announcement shortly of the membership of the new Public Service Board, with a majority of members from outside the Public Service;
plans to make a number of senior appointments (including a Chief Information Officer) to bring greater expertise to the leadership of change in the areas of eGovernment, shared services and public procurement;
plans to reconstitute the Top Level Appointments Commission (TLAC) with more outside members; and
the announcement shortly of the details of the new Senior Public Service.

/ends