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The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin, T.D., has published the second Annual Progress Report on the Public Service Reform Plan 2014-16.

Building on progress on implementing the Government’s first Public Service Reform Plan (2011-13), the second Public Service Reform Plan, published in January 2014, covers the period to end 2016. It contains more than 230 actions, with the overarching objective of achieving better outcomes for citizens, businesses and public servants themselves. The plan emphasises improved service delivery, alongside an ongoing focus on efficiency.

The Annual Progress Report published provides an overview of the progress made in the last year on the cross-cutting areas set out in the Reform Plan. It also provides a range of examples of progress and good practice on reform from across the Public Service.

Minister Howlin said:

“I am very pleased with this progress which builds on our achievements on Public Service Reform since 2011 and which further embeds reform as a key role for all of those involved in designing and delivering public services”.

He continued:

“We have seen strong progress at a central, cross-cutting level and also in the complementary reform programmes underway at organisational and sectoral levels across the Public Service, which have been led by the relevant Ministers and their Departments”.

The Minister added:

“Ireland has a long and proud tradition of service to the public and the State and looking to the future, I believe that ongoing reform should be central to meeting increasing customer expectations and demographic challenges”.

The Minister also thanked all public servants for the role that they have played in delivering this significant programme of reform.


ENDS


Note to the Editor

The Report sets out details of some 170 specific examples of progress made across the Public Service.

Some highlights include:

§ The Public Service ICT Strategy was launched and the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer is leading its implementation, working with Departments and agencies across the Public Service;
§ Over 1.9 million Public Services Cards have been issued to date, including over 630,000 Free Travel variants;
§ Benefacts.ie was launched with the aim of delivering greater public transparency on the work and funding of the non-profit sector in Ireland;
§ In the three years to the end of 2015, the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) and its partner sector sourcing organisations in Health, Education, Local Government and Defence enabled procurement savings estimated in excess of €160 million;
§ The Open Data Governance Board was established in October 2015 and will lead and drive the implementation of Open Data in Ireland;
§ The Lansdowne Road Agreement was concluded in May 2015 and ratified by the ICTU Public Services Committee in September 2015, extending the Haddington Road Agreement to 2018; and
§ A Corporate Governance Standard for the Civil Service was published in November.

The Executive Summary and the main body of the Report include many further examples.

The Report also presents some key achievements in Public Service Reform since 2011, highlighting examples of reform initiatives under the following four themes:

§ A Focus on Service Users
§ A Focus on Efficiency
§ A Focus on Openness, Transparency and Accountability
§ A Focus on Leadership, Renewal and Organisational Reform

Infographics are also available at http://reformplan.per.gov.ie/