General Secretary, Shay Cody, Delegates,
I am very pleased to have the opportunity to attend your annual Conference here in Killarney. I am very familiar with and fond of this part of the world.
As a keen cyclist, I was pleased to learn that last year - when your conference was held in Kilkenny - some members undertook a charity cycle to the event from Dublin.
I understand that they decided to do the same this year - but I hope they realised that the venue has changed and paced themselves accordingly.
Introduction
We meet at a critical time for the future of our country and for Europe.
Just over a year ago, I was honoured to be elected Taoiseach of this country.
I lead a Government with an unprecedented mandate…at a time when our country faces unprecedented challenges.
We are working hard to overcome these issues:
- to stabilise our economy and public finances
- to get people back to work
- to restore Ireland’s international reputation, and
- to improve people’s confidence in the future.
I believe that we have made substantial progress, even against a very difficult international economic backdrop.
Public Service
I want to start by emphasising my belief in the inherent value of public service.
I understand that public servants are motivated by a desire to serve their community and fellow citizens.
I know that quality public services have a profound influence on the lives of each and every person, right through their lives.
That is why I am ambitious for reform and change in this country – and why I see modernisation of the public service as central to national economic and social recovery.
Social Dialogue
As I have outlined, within the EU the Government is working to build alliances with fellow Member States where we have shared interests.
Likewise, at home, we recognise the value of constructive dialogue as we confront the many difficulties facing the country.
The Government knows that we do not have all the answers, any more than our officials and the public service have all the answers.
That is why I see an important role for social dialogue in helping to broaden understanding about what needs to be done, and to generate fresh thinking and new ideas.
Clearly, sectors and organisations of strategic importance in Irish life should have opportunities to engage in discussion with the Government. In particular, the National Economic and Social Council, of which Shay Cody is a member, provides a forum to find solutions to common problems.
However this must be an open, flexible process. It must facilitate, not constrain, change and reform.
Programme for Government
And in our Programme for Government we have set out a hugely ambitious agenda for reform.
Today, I would just like to mention a few of these reforms which may be of interest to IMPACT members:
- the Government has established NewERA to better manage the Government’s shareholding in commercial semi-state companies, and to channel investment towards strategically important infrastructure. We intend to put NewEra on a statutory basis.
- our Pathways to Work strategy is completely reshaping how we help the unemployed get the education, training and support they need to return to work. It includes an overhaul of how we deliver social welfare and training services.
- There is now a once in a generation opportunity to transform Ireland’s healthcare system. The government is committed to creating a single tier, more efficient health system where everyone is treated on the basis of need and not income. Through legislative and structural changes, Minister Reilly intends to devolve power through the health system, giving healthcare professionals working on the frontline much greater freedom and flexibility.
- Minister Bruton is introducing reforms to deliver a world-class workplace relations service and more effective dispute resolution mechanisms.
- The economic crisis has shown us that we need to reform how Government works. We have published draft Heads of legislation to protect whistleblowers across all sectors of the economy. We have undertaken a consultation process on regulation of lobbyists. We have published legislation to limit political donations.
These are just a few examples of our ambition for change and reform.
Public Service Reform
Of course, those of you who work in the public service have experienced a great deal of change in the last few years.
As you are well aware, the Government has had to reduce the pay bill for the public service to help reduce the budget deficit. It is expected to decline by nearly 20% in the period 2009-15. And public servants have, on average, experienced pay reductions of 14%.
I appreciate the sacrifices this has caused for many public servants, just as I appreciate the huge difficulties faced by the tens of thousands who have lost their jobs in the private sector.
I also want to acknowledge the contribution of the public service, including many IMPACT members, who have continued to deliver quality services with fewer resources.
In particular, I was heartened by how well the public service managed the impact of the retirements in February of this year. This was an example of how the Croke Park Agreement can help to protect frontline services.
There are many other good examples of how Croke Park is delivering increased productivity within the public service - through redeployment arrangements, new work practices, new rosters and greater flexibilities.
However, the Croke Park Implementation Body has also called for greater urgency in delivering on the potential of Croke Park.
I don’t need to remind people here of the huge challenge we still face in closing the budget deficit. I believe that it is in the interests of us all – the Government, the taxpayers, trade unions and public service employees – to accelerate the process of change in the public service.
As part of this process, the Government also wishes to ensure that public services are designed more clearly around the needs of the citizen. That is reflected in the Programme for Government commitments to reform our health and education services.
There is a particular challenge for public service managers to lead this change – by finding ways to deliver services more effectively and efficiently.
And we will only be able to afford the quality service we all aspire to, if we can increase productivity across the public service.
The Croke Park Implementation Body will shortly finalise its second annual review of savings and progress under the Agreement. This will provide the Government with an opportunity to consider what savings have been delivered to date, and to identify where we need to focus our efforts over the period ahead.
Conclusion
Before I conclude, I want to restate my belief in the future of this country, and my faith in the Irish people.
This Government has a strong mandate to restore confidence, at home and abroad, and we are determined to succeed in that task.
We want to work constructively with you through this process of national recovery.
Thank you for inviting me here today and I wish you well in your deliberations over the rest of this Conference.