Thank you very much Helena for that very warm welcome. As Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, I appreciate the opportunity to address your Annual Conference. As you progress through your second decade of existence, your organisation has brought the payroll profession to a highly acknowledged and more appreciated position in the world of Irish business today. The hallmarks that garner respect for any profession usually include evidence of its education standards and its verifiable competence and professionalism. In those key indicators, IPASS has certainly delivered an impressive service to all its stakeholders since formation. That is a huge tribute to the directors and staff of IPASS and my compliments and congratulations to everybody involved.
In the 13 years since its formation, IPASS has demonstrated that it is an innovative organisation that has earned the badge of proven pedigree when one considers its record in being pro-actively responsive to meeting the changes in work practices that have become a constant feature of the payroll environment.
I believe there are already almost 6,000 graduates of the Certified Payroll Technician qualification and that approximately another 600 students are scheduled to sit examinations at the end of this month. That is a tremendous footprint for any organisation that has engaged in a specialist field of learning and it demonstrates clear and verifiable acknowledgment that IPASS serves its target sector very well indeed.
HETAC accreditation for five of your courses provides tangible confirmation that the course materials and teaching standards of IPASS are of the highest quality. HETAC’s rigorous criteria for course approval were comfortably satisfied during the accreditation process and this is a tremendous compliment to the professional integrity of the IPASS education model and its delivery process.
I am also very pleased to see that IPASS was not slow to respond to the needs of those for whom classroom attendance is not a feasible option. I am reliably informed that the e-learning platform for the Certified Payroll Technician course has been hugely successful and yet again, it demonstrates that IPASS has responded to the education needs of society insofar as the wider appetite exists for payroll education.
IPASS has also been instrumental in setting up two important supporting organisations, the Payroll Software Developers Association (PSDA) and more recently, the Payroll Service Providers Association (PSPA). Each of these groups are valuable contributors to both the Revenue authorities and software providers and each provides a valuable feedback link which can assist in avoiding unintended consequences that may otherwise arise as a result of some ambiguity or lack of clarity in newly introduced legislative or Revenue amendments.
Your innovation and commitment to positive change is a boost to us all in these challenging times. You probably don’t need me to tell you that it is currently estimated that we will need to achieve an adjustment of some €8.6 billion over the three year period 2013- 2015. You also don’t need me to tell you that there are some things we simply must do if we are to achieve that target and Public Service Reform is one of them.
Over the period 2009-2015, the Government expects that the Public Service pay bill, net of income from the Pension Related Deduction (PRD), will reduce by about €3.8 billion from its peak in 2009. Delivering this reduction will require continued implementation of the moratorium on recruitment, with exceptions being limited to essential posts. The Government has set a target of a reduction of 37,500 staff compared with 2008 levels to 282,500 by 2015. It is envisaged that by the end of this year, numbers will have fallen by over 25,000. However, we know that simply reducing numbers is not enough to produce the sustainable change and cost reductions that we need.
Last November, I launched a comprehensive Public Service Reform Plan. We are reforming how people are managed through the introduction of new working arrangements including new rosters, standardised arrangements for annual leave and an improved performance management framework. The introduction of a new single pension scheme will deliver significant long-term savings in pensions costs. Outmoded practices such as bank time and privilege days have been eliminated in the Civil Service. Redeployment arrangements are protecting frontline services as staff numbers fall by enabling staff to be moved to those areas of greatest need. We are implementing a framework for the Civil Service and the non-commercial State Agencies that seeks to put in place strategic workforce planning to ensure that we have the right people with the right skills in the right places at the right time.
We are reforming the management of expenditure through the introduction of performance based budgeting, which links expenditure more closely to performance indicators, strengthening the focus on performance and delivery and enabling improved performance measurement, reporting and accountability. Multi-annual Medium Term Expenditure Frameworks and the new Value for Money Code will facilitate greater structural planning based on priorities and upon reform with full public input and Oireachtas oversight..
Spending on non-construction public procurement comes to approximately €9 billion annually. There is significant scope for delivering cost savings in this area and procurement reform has been indentified as a Major Project in the Public Service Reform Plan. Under this project, we are building on already developed initiatives in procurement reform, to implement further measures in aggregation, mandated use of common frameworks, performance measurement, increased professionalism and more innovative use of technology.
We also intend to realise significant savings on our property costs by managing the State’s property assets in a more strategic manner, particularly through leasehold and maintenance arrangements. We will also raise additional capital income through the sale of excess property assets, at the appropriate time.
We are reforming how we are organised by looking at innovative ways of delivering non-core public services to reduce costs, increase flexibility and allow Public Service organisations to focus on their core value-added activities. There are opportunities for the best of the public and private sectors to come together, learn from each other and present new models for delivering services efficiently and effectively. We have embarked on a new and expanded programme of State Agency rationalisation to deliver enhanced service efficiencies. I have recently published a new eGovernment strategy, which will ensure Ireland will be in a position to benefit from the opportunities offered by new and existing information technologies to deliver Public Services faster, better and more efficiently to citizens and businesses.
An ambitious Shared Services Transformation Programme focusing on back-office services is at the heart of our reform effort. To ensure that we deliver on the commitments we have made, a dedicated National Shared Services Office has now been established within my Department. The Office is being led by a shared services expert with significant experience of delivering major shared services projects globally.
We are determined to approach this agenda in a sustainable and evidenced- based way, in line with best practice and the lessons already learned in other countries. We need to be clear on what it is we are trying to achieve from the beginning and realise that shared services is much more than a short-term fix.
I expect Government to consider the business case for Civil Service HR Shared Services shortly . We will be adopting a similar approach to other projects, including payroll, finance and banking. You’ll be glad to hear that we have already begun to gather the baseline data needed to build the business case for payroll shared services in the Civil Service and that we expect a Payroll Project Manager to join us in the coming weeks.
The core of the Public Service Reform Plan is implementation and delivery with real actions and real deadlines focussing on real results. We have all seen plans for the reform of the Public Service that have not lived up to expectations, in some cases because of a lack of focus in these areas. By developing integrated plans with clear milestones, by reporting on progress on these plans and by assigning responsibility for particular initiatives to specific individuals and making them accountable for progress, we are showing that we are focused on concrete actions and delivery. The dedicated Cabinet Committee on Public Service Reform which the Taoiseach chairs and I convene reinforces this focus.
I am sure that as this and other projects evolve, the expertise of your organisation and your graduates will be critical to the success of our goal to drive continuous performance improvement. On that note, I would like to thank your Chairman for his paper outlining potential cost savings which was of great interest to both me and my officials.
I congratulate you all collectively on everything that IPASS has achieved to date and wish you continued success. It has been a pleasure to address your annual conference and thank you for inviting me to speak to your delegates today. I wish you a very successful conference and no doubt, your contribution to the payroll sector will continue to be appreciated as a lasting legacy to the profession you represent.
Go raibh mile maith agaibh go
leir.
Slán agus beannach.