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 The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath, T.D., has today (Wednesday), welcomed the publication of the Annual Report for 2020 of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. 

Minister McGrath said: “An impressive record of achievement during 2020, across a broad range of areas of public expenditure management and reform of the Civil and Public Service, most notably the Department’s work to address the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The Minister drew attention to a number of key contributions by the Department to the whole-of-Government response to the pandemic including: 

• managing the huge impact on the public finances of measures introduced to support our people and businesses;
• driving the digital transformation agenda through supporting the move to wide-scale remote working, progressing digital solutions to challenges posed by the pandemic and using the gov.ie portal as a key communications channel;
• providing leadership and a public service-wide collaborative approach to managing the complex issues that arose for public service employers;
• the transfer online of learning and training supports for civil servants via OneLearning; and
• addressing procurement priorities and challenges arising from the pandemic.

Minister McGrath thanked the staff of his Department for their work throughout 2020: “I look forward to continuing to work closely with Ministers of State Ossian Smyth and Patrick O’Donovan and all of the staff of the Department to deliver on our new Statement of Strategy 2021-23, which includes many programmes of work which are critical to the future of our country.”

Minister of State Smyth, who has responsibility for eGovernment and Public Procurement at the Department, stated that: “The report sets out further progress on the digital delivery of public services and ongoing reform of public procurement, both of which contribute to the greater efficiency and effectiveness of our Public Service”.

ENDS

Notes for Editors:

The Executive Summary of the report sets out at a high level some of the main developments in 2020.  Further detail is then included throughout the report.

Some key areas of work included:

• Managing Public Expenditure better by:
  • managing the impact on the public finances of measures introduced to support people and businesses in the context of Covid-19;
  • continuation of the rolling Spending Review process to provide a robust evidence base to inform policy making in the short and medium term; 
  • overseeing gross current expenditure by Departments of just over €85.3 billion and capital expenditure of €9.6 billion; 
  • progressing the Performance Budgeting and Equality Budgeting initiatives;
  • supporting the implementation of Project Ireland 2040; and
  • supporting financial management reform;

• Proactively preparing for the end of the Brexit transition period, including negotiation and rollout of the new Brexit Adjustment Reserve and developing Ireland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan;

• Continuing to oversee the management of the 2014-2020 EU Structural Fund Programmes, engagement in the development of the 2021-2027 EU Cohesion Policy programmes and oversight of the North South EU programmes and the Special EU Programmes Body;

• Working to agree “Building Momentum”, the new public service agreement for 2021-2022,  and managing the implementation of public service pension policy  

• Driving Civil Service renewal and Wider Public Service reform, including:
  • Co-ordinating the implementation of the Civil Service Renewal Programme , guiding and monitoring implementation of the framework for development and innovation in the Public Service (Our Public Service 2020) and leading a whole-of-government process to develop a new vision and ten-year strategy for the Civil Service;
  • Continued implementation of the People Strategy for the Civil Service 2017-2020, including, in response to Covid-19, providing leadership and a public service-wide collaborative approach to the issues arising for public service employers, transferring online learning for staff via OneLearning, as well as providing supports for staff through the Employee Assistance Service and Office of the Chief Medical Officer; and
  • pursuing reforms to deliver open, accountable and ethical government;

• Driving the digital agenda, including through supporting the move to wide-scale remote working in response to Covid-19, progressing digital solutions to challenges posed (e.g. the Contact Tracing App) and using the gov.ie portal as a key communications channel; and taking forward the implementation of Public Service ICT Strategies;  and

• Implementation of the Public Procurement Reform Programme, including:
  • completing 662 competitions for public service bodies, covering expenditure of €470 million; and
  • establishing 32 national commercial arrangements, covering an estimated spend of €1.5 billion over their term, and a further eight discrete contracts covering spend of almost €200 million. 

Contact: Claire Godkin - Press Officer, Department of Public Expenditure and Reform - 085 806 3969