HUNDREDS OF State agencies are to have their futures reviewed in light of the publication yesterday of a report on public service reform by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).
Minister for Finance and taoiseach-elect Brian Cowen, who promised the review at the launch of the report, said he was not ruling out the closure of agencies or anything else that would help improve public services.Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, also speaking at the launch, said there were now some 800 agencies and this represented "too many by half".
The OECD is an international think-tank with 30 member countries including Ireland.
Its report said the number of State agencies had more than doubled since the 1990s. But it said that, in practice, there was no widely accepted idea of what constituted an agency in Ireland and this made it difficult to track the size of the sector or analyse its impact.
"No official Irish statistics are available for staff numbers in agencies in Ireland either today or 10 or 20 years ago," it said. "Agencies vary significantly in size and budget and it is unclear how much public funding they use for their own functioning, for further distribution or for investment. Neither is it known exactly how many staff they employ."
Mr Cowen said over the years certain agencies had been brought forward in certain areas to do particular jobs but the Government was now prepared to look at this. "It is clear to me, with the fact that resources will not be increasing at the same rate as up to now, that we have to look at everything," he said.
Mr Cowen said if resources were not increasing, decisions would have to be taken in some cases to merge bodies or use shared services.
Mr Ahern said that if there were 800 agencies in a country of 4.5 million, it required examination. However, he said agencies could be integrated rather than abolished and significant savings could be generated.
In its recommendations, the OECD says there should be improved governance and performance dialogue to address current disconnects between the central Civil Service and broader public service. It says a mobility policy is needed to facilitate movement of generalist staff across different sectors of the public service.
It argues for the removal of the traditional divide between the Civil Service and the broader public service to create a unified public service labour market.
It also says that in a tighter fiscal environment there is need for prioritising spending within budget frameworks.
The report says e-government must be developed to deliver integrated, citizen-focused services.
It proposes a senior public service should be established to create an integrated public service leadership cadre. It also warns the Government's decentralisation plans are changing the public service landscape.
However, Mr Cowen gave no indication the Government would change its policy on decentralisation. He said the Government agreed it was a challenging programme but that there had been no loss in productivity from moving elements of departments.
He added that the OECD had found public service reform was broadly on the right track but that there could be improvements. However, he said public service modernisation needed to shift up a gear. "Every Minister, department and agency needs to deliver higher productivity in their areas to ensure reform of the public service and quality delivery to citizens."
The Government is to establish a group involving public and private sector figures to oversee follow-up of the OECD proposals.
Mr Cowen said he was determined to take decisive action.