TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen confirmed yesterday that the Government is to establish a taskforce to develop an action plan for the modernisation of the public service, writes Martin Wall.
He said the taskforce, which will comprise senior civil servants as well as people from the private sector, will draw up a comprehensive framework for the renewal of public services, taking into account the conclusions and recommendations of the recent OECD report on this area.
It is to report to the Government by the end of the summer.
Mr Cowen told the Impact conference he was determined to take action to improve public services. He said that the public service could and should do better, and that change was needed and awaited.
On a new social partnership deal, Mr Cowen acknowledged there had been concerns that inflation had eroded much of the increases under the current pay deal. However, he argued that over the course of the recent agreement, the net incomes of the vast majority of workers in the public and private sectors had fared better than inflation when account was taken of wage rises, changes in tax credits and bands, child benefit increases, enhancements in family income supplement and improvements in mortgage interest relief.
He also indicated that the Government could be open in the talks to agreeing a new mechanism for determining public sector pay.
Mr Cowen said he believed that the principle of benchmarking was the right one. But he said that if the social partners arrived at a point where there was a basis for agreeing a different approach, "the Government will play its part in finalising the terms of an agreement".