Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Croke Park Agreement has committed the Civil and Public Service management to working with their staff to increase efficiency and reduce costs across the public sector. In that regard, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation and its Agencies submitted Croke Park Implementation Plans last October to the Department of Finance and the Agreement "Implementation Body" for consideration. Updated Plans were subsequently submitted on 6th January this year to reflect the implications of Budget 2011 and the National Recovery Plan and a formal response from the Department of Finance and the Implementation Body on the revised proposals is awaited. The Department's Plan has combined high-level proposals, which will impact across the Department, together with individual items that will have a more local impact in a particular business area. Similar approaches have been taken by the Department's Agencies.

Due to the nature of public expenditure generally, the area where greatest savings could be achieved would be through a reduction in pay budgets i.e. reducing numbers in the Civil and Public Service. Through the effects of the various "exit" schemes and the moratorium on recruitment, staff levels in the Department have already dropped significantly such that since Spring 2009 overall staffing numbers have fallen by more than 9% while demand for services has increased. For example, many of the bodies in the Employment Rights disputes resolution area as well as a number of other "front-line" areas are already dealing with significantly increased workloads. In addition increased demands across the Department are expected arising from Ireland's EU Presidency in 2013.

I should add that the Departmental Implementation Plan – and those of its Agencies – must be set against the backdrop of further resource reductions required of the Department and its Agencies resulting from implementation of the National Recovery Plan (NRP) and the EU/IMF Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of late 2010. During the lifetime of the Croke Park Agreement, therefore, additional measures will be effected to achieve cost reductions to meet NRP and other obligations, and such additional measures will be incorporated into future iterations of the Croke Park Agreement Implementation Plan.

I can confirm for the Deputy that all officials in the Department and its Agencies are fully apprised of the crucial importance of delivery of all actions in our Croke Park Agreement Implementation Plans. In particular, the Department's Management Board has accorded a high priority to driving and monitoring implementation of the Department's own Plan in the period ahead, and has engaged at both Partnership Committee and Departmental Council level with relevant unions on the substance of the Plan. However, implementation of some proposals in the Department's Plan will be influenced by the manner in which staff and unions respond to the challenges of using the mechanisms negotiated centrally to implement the agreement in areas such as general staff mobility, shared services and outsourcing.

Finally, I am happy to confirm that each iteration of the Plan, and the Progress Reports on Implementation, will be published on the websites of the Department and the individual Agencies, once they have been accepted by the Implementation Body.