Reinventing public sector: a focus on reform

THE GOVERNMENT has appointed former Eircom executive Paul Reid as programme director of the new Reform and Delivery Office within the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

Speaking at the latest Irish TimesInnovation Roadshow event yesterday, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin said the new office would oversee and co-ordinate the proposed reforms across departments.

Mr Reid previously worked in Eircom, where he was executive director of operations and networks from 2005 until 2010.

During this time, he was responsible for restructuring its cost base and customer service.

Since 2010, he has worked with Trócaire on changes to its Irish and international activities.

The topic for the Innovation roadshow event, held at the Dublin offices of business advisory firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), was “reinventing the public sector”.

Mr Howlin reiterated that the need for greater integration of the public sector in areas such as human resources, payroll and pensions was required to reduce costs and improve efficiencies.

During the discussion, Paul Wickens, chief executive of Enterprise Shared Services, described his role in leading the introduction of shared services for the Northern Ireland civil service.

Despite a degree of initial resistance, he said that his “experience of rolling out shared services to all 12 departments in the Northern Ireland civil service demonstrated that it’s possible to deliver a positive change in service quality while also generating significant efficiencies across government”.

Niamh O’Donoghue, secretary general of the Department of Social Protection, said that management in the public sector was open to reform, and significant changes are already well under way, even if they had not yet caught the public’s attention.

Paul Tuite, advisory leader at PwC, said that the current economic climate has created an environment ripe for radical change.

“Public sector management is facing the same challenges as in the private sector, having to maintain services with less staff and less money.

“It’s great to see that the reforms are being led by both the Government and the public sector management,” he said.