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Desmond Greaves Summer School September 2010

Desmond Greaves Summer School September 2010. BLAIR HORAN GENERAL SECRETARY Civil Public & Services Union. Public Service provision depends on economic performance. Budget 2005. High water mark of Celtic Tiger – Growth twice EU Spending three times EU Employment half EU Debt lowest EU

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Desmond Greaves Summer School September 2010

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  1. Desmond GreavesSummer School September 2010 BLAIR HORAN GENERAL SECRETARY Civil Public & Services Union

  2. Public Service provision depends on economic performance. • Budget 2005. High water mark of Celtic Tiger – • Growth twice EU • Spending three times EU • Employment half EU • Debt lowest EU • “Colleagues in EU would love to have our record” “Did not achieve merely by chance” “Sound economic and fiscal policy” • Extra €30 billion since 1997 • Spending €20B • Tax Reduction €6B • Investment €4B • Now it is clear that “low tax burden” created a bubble.

  3. Public Service provision will now be severely constrained by current economic conditions. • Judge performance by reference to OECD Report 2007. • Numbers increase 1995 to 2007 by 30% but from a low base. • Catch up – Ireland third to bottom in OECD as percentage of GDP.

  4. Modernisation of Irish Public Service commenced with Strategic Management Initiative 1994. • Influences were new public management theory – neo-liberal economic theory. Make Public Sector more like Private. • Privatisation, deregulation, commercialisation. • Citizens are more than consumers. Entitlement.

  5. Impact of Modernisation • Better service delivery and citizen satisfaction. Good examples. • Revenue • Social Family Affairs • Motor Tax on line • Passport Office • No queues. • Focus on internal process. Recruitment, performance, promotion.

  6. NPM theory main driver of agencification. • Small country 800 Public Bodies. • Waste of resources. Duplication. No clear benefit. • OECD Report called for more integrated public service. • New public administration theory. • Retain – values/ethos • Value for money • Citizen focus. • New approach focussed on “one public service”.

  7. Main public service failures were in policy advice. • Excessive neo-liberal approach to economic policy. • Key Failures 1. Increased supply main solution to house price inflation.

  8. 2. Euro membership removed market discipline. 3. Success of low corporation tax model transferred to income and capital gains tax. • Widespread view that fundamentals of Irish economy superior to main European partners. • Rise in Euroscepticism across broad sections of Irish society.

  9. Pay policy in public sector. • First “Benchmarking Agreement” was under 1987 Programme for National Recovery. • Usually every 5/7 years since 1960s based on private sector comparisons. • 2001 Benchmarking put an end to leap frogging claims.

  10. Increases in Staffing 2001–2009 (McCarthy Report) • Health 20% • Education 27% • State Agencies 11% • Local Authorities 6% • Civil Service 7% Civil Service 1998 to 2009 (Dail Question) • Assistant Secretary → 60% • Principal Officer → 114% • Assistant Principal Officer → 109% • Higher Executive Officer → 72% • Executive Officer → 101% • Staff Officer → 22% • Clerical Officer → 14%

  11. Conclusion • Growth in numbers from a low base but facilitated by windfall taxes. Significant retrenchment a reality. • Better service delivery for citizens over past 15 years. • Fragmentation of public service a waste and duplication of resources. • Real failure in area of policy advice.

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