Key Objective from Public Service Reform Plan 2014-16:

To strengthen management and leadership across the Civil Service, and ultimately the Public Service and develop a high performance leadership cadre as a shared corporate resource, improve cross-organisational collaboration, encourage innovation and support continuous personal and professional development.

Civil Service Management Board

A Civil Service Management Board (CSMB) has been established to strengthen the collective leadership of the Civil Service and to manage the performance and operation of the Civil Service. This includes overseeing talent management and performance management systems for senior managers, supporting the Government on the implementation of policy initiatives that involve multiple organisations, and identifying and managing strategic and operational risks.

The Board also has collective responsibility for implementing all of the actions in the Civil Service Renewal Plan and all CSMB members lead on specific actions in the Plan. The Secretary General to the Government chairs the Board and its membership comprises of Secretaries General of all Government Departments and Heads of major Offices. The Board met monthly throughout 2015 and minutes of their meetings are published on the website of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

Senior Public Service

The Senior Public Service (SPS) was established in 2011 and continues to strengthen the senior management and leadership capacity of the Public Service and facilitate increased mobility across the Public Service. Measures that have been progressed to further the aims of the SPS include a review of the competency framework for Assistant Secretaries, the introduction of a successful executive coaching programme, the development of a mobility protocol to support lateral mobility at Assistant Secretary level, provision of networking opportunities and the roll out of training programmes to develop specific skills, e.g. communications courses.

There is a continued focus on the strengthening of the senior management cohort in line with broader actions being developed for the Civil Service as a whole under the Civil Service Renewal Plan. Measures being further progressed include the design and implementation of robust performance management processes for Secretaries General and Assistant Secretaries. In this regard, the first performance review process for Secretaries General was approved and launched in January 2016. An enhanced performance review process for Assistant Secretaries has also been developed – this was piloted by four Government Departments in late 2015 before launching in January 2016.

Work has also commenced to introduce structured and transparent talent management programmes for senior civil servants, in addition to the development of a Talent Management Framework for other grades. This will support the development of the skills that senior leaders require to support policy making and to lead their organisations effectively.

Work has continued to increase female participation at senior levels in the Civil Service. A pilot mentoring and leadership development programme to increase the number of women in the top decision making levels of the Civil Service has been undertaken by the Department of Justice and Equality. The pilot was cross-Departmental with female Principal Officers participating from 16 Government Departments. The participants received executive coaching, mentoring and leadership development training which was focused at the competencies required at the Assistant Secretary grade. This type of initiative is complemented by others at organisational level, for example, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine developed its own female leadership programme in 2015.

Other sectors

The Centre for School Leadership (CSL) was launched in 2015 by the Department of Education and Skills, in partnership with the Irish Primary Principals Network, the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals and the Professional Development Services for Teachers. The CSL will be responsible for the delivery of the continuum of professional development for school leaders, from pre-appointment training and induction of newly appointed principals, to continuing professional development throughout careers. The CSL will have many benefits for the profession in terms of the quality of training programmes, coordination of provision and increased accessibility.

A new B.Sc in Police Leadership and Governance, developed by An Garda Síochána in conjunction with University College Dublin, commenced in September 2015. The programme, aimed at middle and senior managers, is designed to focus on strategic management practices within An Garda Síochána. In addition, the Garda Authorities collaborated with both Dublin City University and the University of Limerick to provide 15 places for its members on a number of Masters level programmes including their Executive MBA Programmes.

The Local Government sector also recognises the importance of continuous development of the leadership capability. On an annual basis, the Local Government Management Agency sponsors 4 senior personnel including Chief Executives to attend the Programme for Senior Executives in State and Local Government run by the JFK School of Government in Harvard.

As part of their People Strategy 2015-2018, the Health Service Executive (HSE) is developing models of shared and distributed leadership, to nurture a strong culture of engagement and team working, and to inspire staff at all levels to deliver high quality safe services.

The HSE has already started its first multi leadership development programme for clinicians and has created facilitated team development services for newly appointed senior management. A third cohort has commenced the future leadership development programme, the Senior/Executive Leadership Development Programme is continuing and the unlocking Leadership Development Programme has been set up.

Key Objective from Public Service Reform Plan 2014-16:

Develop coherent HR Strategy aimed at developing the capability and skills that are required in a modern and complex public service context.

Recruitment and Promotion

Good progress has been made on the implementation of a targeted programme of open recruitment to the Civil Service. Action 8 of the Civil Service Renewal Plan provides for the opening up of recruitment and promotions across the Civil Service. This includes extending the established policy of open competition for all senior management positions (Assistant Principal and above), as well as implementing practical arrangements in line with business needs to move to a model of filling all vacancies through either open competition or a Civil Service wide inter-departmental competition.

The Public Appointments Service ran over 150 open recruitment campaigns in 2015 for a range of diverse specialised positions across the Public Service including solicitors, accountants, statisticians and meteorologists, as well as running all general recruitment competitions for the Civil and Public Service.

The recruitment campaigns have brought new people and new skills into the Public Service, addressed imbalances which may have developed during the operation of the Moratorium on Recruitment and Promotions and have also resulted in promotional opportunities for large numbers of existing public servants.

Learning and Development

Across the Civil Service, Learning and Development (L&D) Strategies, aligned to the business needs of the respective Government Department, are being implemented and these play a crucial role in supporting organisations through change. Some of these strategies and associated L&D programmes, including for example from the Department of Finance, have received awards from organisations such as the Irish Institute of Training and Development.

Work is also continuing to implement a new shared model for learning and development across the Civil Service to support civil servants and facilitate continuous professional development, in line with Action 9 of the Civil Service Renewal Plan.

Graduate Development Programmes

A pilot Civil Service Graduate Development Programme was introduced in 2015 to support newly appointed Administrative Officers and Junior Diplomats in developing their career within the Civil Service. There are currently 82 participants from 18 Departments and Offices on the programme. The programme focuses on both professional and personal development. It blends formal training with on the job learning and seeks to develop a broad range of skills, including project management, policy analysis, negotiation, and leadership. A mid-point review of the pilot was conducted and feedback was very positive and the second programme will begin later this year.

In 2015, the Local Government sector appointed 119 staff through its Graduate Recruitment Programme. These entrants were recruited under five skills areas: economic, enterprise and business development; communications and marketing; project and programme management; innovation strategy and change management; and HR management.

Workplace policies

Workforce Planning was launched across the Civil Service in November 2011, with many organisations having developed their second and third iterations. The purpose of the process is to assist Departments and Offices in making critical decisions related to their workforce over the short to medium term. Plans consider issues such as technological advances, learning and development, restructuring, succession planning, mobility, knowledge retention, gender distribution etc. This information, in turn, informs Civil Service HR policy making in areas such as recruitment, learning and development, mobility and equality initiatives.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is supporting the ongoing development of workforce planning through the provision of supports such as guidelines, templates, training, networks etc. Workforce planning forms a key strand in the development of Strategic HR policy across the Civil Service.

Action 15 of the Civil Service Renewal Plan includes a commitment to extend mobility over time to provide additional development opportunities and enable greater mobility across the Civil and Public Service. Building on the Assistant Secretary and Principal Officer Mobility schemes that are now in place, development work on a model for interdepartmental lateral mobility is continuing.

Redeployment operates through a Resource Panel system, which is managed by the Public Appointments Service for the Civil Service and Non-Commercial State Sponsored Bodies under their aegis. It also manages cross-sectoral assignments where necessary. To date, over 12,000 staff have been redeployed across the Public Service.

Sick Leave

A new Public Service Sick Leave Scheme for the majority of the Public Service was introduced in 2014. Its aim was to reduce the cost and incidence of sick leave for the Public Service by substantially reducing the period of time for which paid sick leave is available. The new scheme has already had a significant impact across the Public Service as a whole. For example, the cost of sick leave across the Public Service is estimated at €319.3 million for 2014; a decrease of almost 14% on 2013. As a result, there were an additional 260,000 days approximately worked by public servants in 2014 in comparison to 2013.

A review of the Public Service Sick Leave Scheme is currently underway to evaluate the effectiveness of the Scheme and address any operational difficulties and issues which may have arisen following its introduction.

Performance Management

Under Action 11 of the Civil Service Renewal Plan to strengthen the performance management process, the current five-point PMDS rating system in the Civil Service has been replaced with a two-point system. The new ratings system will apply for the 2016 PMDS cycle and performance will now be evaluated on whether or not the jobholder has performed to a satisfactory level. Performance Management is also being strengthened across the wider Public Service.

The Civil Service Renewal Plan also provides for the strengthening of the Disciplinary Code to enable managers to take more effective and decisive action as required to tackle underperformance including exits. A new Disciplinary Code and Underperformance Policy has been developed which will make it clear what steps need to be taken when addressing underperformance and disciplinary matters. The introduction of the new Code and Policy will be underpinned by a change management strategy aimed to support managers in the roll out which will take place in 2016. The Civil Service Regulation Acts, 1956-2005 and the Public Service Management Act, 1997 will also be amended to provide that responsibility for disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal, can be assigned below the head of each organisation.

Staff Engagement

In September 2015, the first Civil Service wide employee engagement survey was carried out. The survey asked civil servants 112 questions about their views on working in the Civil Service. Over 15,500 Irish civil servants worldwide took part, providing their views on areas like employee engagement, well-being, coping with change and commitment to the organisation. The results are positive, overall Employee Engagement is high at 70% and civil servants are highly engaged, competent and resilient employees. This result compares well internationally and the survey provides valuable information to leaders within the Civil Service to effect change based on sound analysis.

In April 2015, the HSE published the results of its first employee engagement survey. This comprehensive survey was conducted to seek the views of employees about what it’s like to work in the Irish health services. At a glance, the survey shows that the HSE have a motivated and enthusiastic workforce, who have reasonable satisfaction levels with their job but some are lacking optimism about their own future in the health services. The findings from the Survey informed the development of a Staff Engagement Improvement Plan which was completed in July 2015.

Civil Service Excellence and Innovation Awards

The first ever Civil Service Excellence and Innovation Awards were held in December 2015. The Awards are a new annual event to recognise achievements and showcase innovations in policy and service delivery across the Civil Service. 94 projects were submitted, showcasing the diversity and quality of work carried out by the Civil Service from which 32 projects were shortlisted. The awards were presented to the 10 winning teams by the Taoiseach and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. Details of the award winners are set out in the Appendix.

Key Objective from Public Service Reform Plan 2014-16:

Enhance the performance of organisations in the Civil and Public Service to ensure that they deliver the best possible outcomes.

Rationalisation of State Bodies

The programme of rationalisation of State Bodies has been substantially achieved, with more than 90% of the bodies to be merged or rationalised now completed, resulting in a more streamlined administrative landscape. There are 176 fewer State Bodies operating in the Public Service as a result of the programme, with a further reduction of 5 due once necessary legislation is enacted.

Recurring annual savings of over €15 million are accruing to the Exchequer, with a further €2.8 million in once-off revenue arising from the disposal of property. Further annual savings of €9 million will be achieved by 2018, as the full year efficiency savings from some of the measures are realised. In addition, about €40 million of annual savings will accrue to the local authority sector on foot of the reform and rationalisation of the local authority structures which took effect in May 2014.

Agency rationalisations completed in 2015 include the merger of the National Roads Authority (NRA) and the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) to form Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII). TII will benefit from combining the technical expertise and experience available in the NRA and RPA. It is anticipated that the merger will deliver a net cost saving of €3.4 million in the combined administrative budgets by the end of Year 3 of the merger.

Sport Ireland, which merged the Irish Sports Council and the National Sports Campus Development Authority, was established in October 2015. Sport Ireland is now the statutory agency for sport with a specific remit for high performance sport. The creation of the new agency advances the vision of a sustainable Irish system for Irish athletes largely based at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown.

Sectoral and Organisational Improvements

The White Paper on Defence, which established Ireland’s defence policy framework for the next decade as a whole of Government approach, was published in 2015. Amongst other things, the White Paper sets out the defence policy response to security challenges, including the defence contribution to international peace and security. It makes provision for a new system of fixed cycle reviews of defence requirements to ensure a flexible and adaptable response across Government. The White Paper also explores several new initiatives for Defence, including an Institute for Peace Support and Leadership training and a proposal for a new employment support scheme aimed at people in the 18-24 age group.

The majority of the provisions of the Local Government Reform Act, 2014 commenced in June 2014, activating a range of very significant changes to the Local Government system. In summary, the number of local authorities has been reduced from 114 to 31, the number of councillors now stands at 949 compared with a previous membership of 1,627, 80 town councils have been dissolved, 95 municipal districts has been established covering all counties (except the three Dublin County Councils and the cities of Dublin, Cork and Galway) and 8 regional authorities and 2 regional assemblies have been replaced by 3 regional assemblies. A review of the operation of the new system commenced in 2015 and will consider whether any changes are needed to the operation of the new structures and arrangements.

Significant progress has been made in relation to the civilianisation of immigration functions currently undertaken by members of An Garda Síochána and, in June 2015, Immigration Officers from the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) took on full 24/7 responsibility for passport checks at Terminal 1 in Dublin Airport. The transfer of functions at Terminal 2 is a priority for 2016. These changes result in the release of Gardaí for redeployment to operational duties.

A major reform programme has been implemented by the Courts Service in recent years, delivering significant savings, and improved productivity and efficiency. Initiatives progressed include: the implementation of combined Circuit Court and District Court offices and the rationalisation of stand-alone court offices; the rationalisation of the Regional Management Structure; a streamlining of court procedures and processes; more effective contract and procurement management; proactive management of court fees; and support for the new Court of Appeal. In addition, the review of the delivery of services is ongoing and the Report of the Working Group on Efficiency Measures in the Criminal Justice System – Circuit and District Courts 2013-2014 was published in December 2015.

School self-evaluation (SSE) was introduced in primary and post primary schools in 2012, as an element of quality assurance in encouraging and supporting schools to build capacity and take more responsibility for the quality of provision. The SSE Guidelines articulate a clear set of standards for teaching and learning in schools and focus on improving outcomes for the learner, within an overarching school improvement objective. All primary and post-primary schools now engage in self-evaluation each year and develop action plans to build on their strengths and address areas for improvement. A new set of SSE guidelines, setting out a draft quality framework for leadership and management, will be finalised in 2016.

The final phase of the Workplace Relations Reform Programme was implemented with effect from 1 October, 2015. This represents the biggest reform to the State’s employment rights and industrial relations machinery in 70 years. The reforms, which provide modern and flexible workplace relations institutions, saw the existing five employment rights bodies merged into two bodies – the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) and the Labour Court. A significant level of streamlining, realignment and business process redesign has been carried out within the new WRC to meet the requirements of customers and stakeholders. This includes the replacement of 33 first instance complaint forms with a single form, a single portal of contact for information, complaints, claims and referrals, and an Early Resolution Service as an alternative to formal hearings.

Intreo, the new integrated service for all employment and income supports, was launched by the Department of Social Protection in October 2012. Roll out of all sixty Intreo centres nationwide was completed in 2015 and there has been significant consolidation and rationalisation at a local level. This also facilitated the restructuring and closing of some 460 Community Welfare Service satellite clinics by end 2015, while ensuring continuity of service. In total, the Department has achieved a reduction in operations from 988 locations in 2012 to 334 locations in 2015. The One DSP Changing Together programme, which commenced in 2014, continues to focus on building an organisation with a common identity, common values and a shared culture.

The WorkSmart initiative in the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport is supporting efficient information sharing and is underpinning more effective collaboration across the Department through the introduction of electronic systems to manage Ministerial Correspondence, Parliamentary Questions and submissions to senior management and Ministers.

The Department of Agriculture, Marine and Food’s design and delivery of 20 new schemes across direct payments and rural development areas of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) led to the payment of over €1 billion in 2015 to farmers. Ireland has led other Member States in implementing the new CAP and was the first country in Europe to make payments to its farmers in 2015.

In 2015, an agreement was signed between the Department of Finance and the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) on a research programme covering macroeconomic and taxation issues. Under this agreement, the objective of which is to undertake and disseminate research on various macroeconomic and taxation issues in Ireland, researchers from the ESRI will work alongside officials from the Department on various research projects. The programme will run for two years in an innovation that builds on the ESRI’s proven economic research capability and the Department’s commitment to enhance its capacity for evidence-based policy analysis.

In 2015, the Department of Finance codified a Governance Framework for the Department. The objective was to produce a concise organisational specific Governance Framework that provides a clear and comprehensive summary of the principal aspects of corporate governance within the Department. This helped inform the development of a Corporate Governance Standard for the Civil Service, as part of Action 3 of the Civil Service Renewal Plan.

The development of a Quality Management Framework in the Central Statistics Office is an extensive and long-term programme of activities, which will ensure that statistical production meets the highest standards as regards quality and efficiency. The Quality Management Framework (QMF) project began its work in 2013 to develop an office-wide approach to: designing quality at the outset; controlling for quality during business operations; and establishing key metrics to measure quality statistical processing. Work to develop and test recommendations was completed in 2015 and a new area has been established within the Office with responsibility for implementation of the recommendations.

The Shared Incident Logging and Analysis System (SILAS) went live in 2015. SILAS is a single call and incident logging system sharing real-time information across the Irish Coast Guard’s three Rescue Coordination Centres, designed to boost the organisation’s incident management and Search and Rescue functions. It provides unprecedented support to incident responses through live resource tracking, information logging and tasking capabilities. It also delivers improved reporting capabilities across all categories of incidents. This ensures the Irish Coast Guard’s operations are adapted for the future by delivering the most effective use of resources through better information management.

Collaboration between Departments

The coordination mechanism employed by the Department of the Taoiseach, in conjunction with the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, to drive delivery of the Action Plan for Jobs ensured high-level political buy-in and oversight; whole-of-government engagement; and the establishment of quarterly targets underpinned by a robust monitoring system. A central communications function (#allaboutjobs) has helped to ensure a user-centric, innovative whole-of-government approach to inform business and potential employees of the range of supports and new developments. The Action Plan for Jobs has made a significant contribution to job creation and reducing unemployment with 135,000 new jobs created by end 2015.

Interagency co-operation in the Justice sector is being progressed through the development and implementation of joint strategies such as the Joint Probation Service and Irish Prison Service Strategy. Examples of joint initiatives implemented include the highly successful Community Return Programme which is an incentivised scheme for earned temporary release for suitable offenders serving sentences from 1-8 years. The scheme started in 2011 and to date in excess of 1,650 prisoners have participated with over 1,330 successfully completing it. In addition, over 900 prisoners have successful participated in the Community Support Scheme which addresses the recidivism levels of those serving sentences of under 12 months from certain catchment areas.

The Department of Social Protection has extended the range of services it provides to other Departments and agencies. This includes a payment service to women who worked in the Magdalen laundries on behalf of the Department of Justice and Equality; the administration and payment of the Water Conservation Grant to some 886,000 householders on behalf of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, a data sharing web service to support Student Universal Support Ireland in processing some 110,000 DSP related student grant applications and a data sharing web service providing means data, payment details and other personal data on an individual basis to South Dublin County Council.

Revenue has expanded the capacity of its Data Centre and now hosts core computer equipment for 33 Public Service Bodies. This work facilitates sharing public infrastructure and technical expertise with many smaller agencies which lack deep ICT capability without compromising security, privacy and independence. It also provides greater efficiencies, reduces outsourcing costs and reduces the use and fit-out of expensive office space for computer rooms.

Organisational Capability

Action 20 in the Civil Service Renewal Plan provides for the development of a programme of Organisational Capability Reviews. The objective of the reviews is to assess how well Government Departments are equipped to develop and deliver policy and strategies to meet today’s delivery objectives and future challenges and to recommend practical actions to improve this on a phased basis. The model for the reviews was developed in 2015 and the new programme of Organisational Capability Reviews will commence in 2016.

Key Objective from Public Service Reform Plan 2014-16:

To ensure that the commitments to Public Service Reform in the Reform Plan are implemented in the timeframe envisaged and the planned benefits realised.

Governance

The ongoing delivery of the ambitious reforms set out in the Public Service Reform Plan 2014-16 requires a continued strong emphasis on implementation, including effective programme management and governance arrangements, both centrally and within each of the main sectors. Since the Reform Plan was published in 2014, this has been led by the Cabinet Committee on Social Policy and Public Service Reform.

Progress on the implementation of the cross-cutting actions in the Public Service Reform Plan is overseen and coordinated by the Reform and Delivery Office (RDO) in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, with quarterly reporting on all 230 actions. The RDO also supports the central governance model that leads the implementation of the reform programme.

In addition, each of the four main sectors on Health, Education and Training, Local Government and Justice have established their own sector specific governance and programme management structures. These structures, which vary according to the requirements and characteristics of the sector, have been effective in driving and supporting the delivery of a joined-up approach to reform at sectoral level.

As outlined earlier, the Civil Service Management Board has overall responsibility for the implementation of the Civil Service Renewal Plan. In addition, an Accountability Board has been established, which includes independent external members who bring an external perspective to strengthening accountability and performance across the Civil Service.

Planning and reporting

Integrated Reform Delivery Plans for 2015 were completed by all Departments and major Offices early in 2015. These plans set out how those organisations would implement the cross-cutting reforms set out in the Public Service Reform Plan, alongside sector-specific reforms and actions under the Haddington Road Agreement. The main sectors typically report on progress on the implementation of these plans at the end of each quarter, while all other Departments and major Offices report on progress every six months. The end-year reports on the 2015 plans have informed the development of this overall report.

Departments and Offices have also completed new plans for 2016, although these will be subject to revision following the completion of a new Programme for Government.

Capacity building

A key component of the work of the Reform and Delivery Office is the provision of support on key reform themes to civil and public servants. This includes training programmes, an online portal hosting guidance and educational resources, and advice on the delivery and implementation of reform initiatives.

In 2015, the Reform and Delivery Office organised a number of training programmes in key reform topics, including change management, use of plain language, service design and external service delivery for staff involved in the delivery and implementation of Public Service Reform initiatives. On change management for example, almost 200 middle and senior managers leading the delivery of reform have attended a tailored two day change management course in the last year.

Similarly, the Alternative Models of Service Delivery Unit in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is supporting public servants in all sectors in building organisational capacity and capability around the use of alternative models of service delivery. Learning and development interventions have been provided to over 250 public servants involved in service design and delivery. The Unit also publishes its own suite of resources and tools to better enable the use of alternative models of service delivery across the Public Service.