Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.
I am delighted to be here this afternoon to present the fourth biennial Public Service Excellence Awards.
These Awards were established by my predecessor in 2004, as a means of showcasing excellence in the Public Service. In particular, the Awards recognise best practice in projects and initiatives that have enhanced the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of administration and delivery of public services. I am delighted to be able to continue the Awards this year.
We find ourselves in a difficult and challenging period and, in our efforts to transform the Public Service to ensure that it is fit-for-purpose and affordable, it is also worthwhile to take time to recognise the achievements and dedication of public servants from across all sectors.
The Challenge of Public Service Transformation
Of course, change is not new to the Irish Public Service. This is widely acknowledged and documented. In their review of our Public Service just over two years ago, the OECD stated that “Ireland has continually sought to modernise and reform its Public Service systems and practices to ensure that it can continue to meet the needs and expectations of Government and citizens.”
There is no doubt that these efforts have strengthened the Public Service and ensured that it is better placed to meet current and future challenges. And we face many challenges just now - challenges that demand new thinking, a more creative approach to the organisation and delivery of public services, and an ongoing commitment to innovation in the Public Service.
We are determined that the Public Service will meet these challenges. I believe that the recently ratified Croke Park Agreement will be a key enabler in this regard. It sets out an agreed vision for the Public Service – a Public Service which is leaner, more effective, more integrated, and more focused on the needs of the citizen. It also sets out how this vision will be realised.
Early progress on the implementation of the Agreement will be important and, to this end, the recently established management-union Implementation Body, chaired by P. J. Fitzpatrick, has already held its first meeting.
The transformation agenda now needs to be implemented by each public servant with vigour and commitment. This will not be easy, but it provides our best guarantee for the future. It will mean change in the way we work. It will mean managing our resources more efficiently, sharing those resources and our expertise, harnessing technology to increase productivity, and getting the best value for money in procuring goods and services.
It will be a challenge, and equally an opportunity - an opportunity to dramatically accelerate the pace of change in the Public Service, to the benefit of all stakeholders. And an opportunity to ensure that the Public Service continues to contribute to our return to economic prosperity. These are opportunities that we need to embrace with, to borrow from Seamus Heaney, “a compound of energy and artifice”.
I believe that the Public Service has the capacity, commitment, and knowledge for such change and innovation. As chair of the Cabinet Committee on Transforming Public Services, I will continue to work closely with Ministers and public servants to drive this transformation.
Leadership
Of course, building on the progress made to date, and achieving the dramatic level of change in the way we do business and in our work practices will require leadership. The Government recognises this. In March of this year, I appointed my colleague, Dara Calleary, T.D., as Minister of State with special responsibility for Public Service Transformation. He will have an important role to play in strengthening the political leadership and direction of this change process, to the benefit of all key stakeholders. In addition, the establishment of a new Public Service Board, to be chaired by Minister Calleary and with a majority of its members from outside the Public Service, is a strong, highly visible signal of the Government’s intent to promote a cultural change within the Public Service.
In addition, we plan to make a number of senior appointments, including a Chief Information Officer, to bring greater expertise to the leadership of change in the critical areas of eGovernment, shared services and public procurement. The Government will also shortly establish a Senior Public Service to centrally manage and deploy top public servants. This will enable greater movement of leaders across the Public Service, and ensure the talent pool for filling leadership vacancies is broadened. In parallel, the Government will shortly announce details of a new approach to recruitment to senior positions by re-constituting the Top Level Appointments Committee with more outside members.
Ultimately of course, success requires leaders who champion change on their own initiative - individual public servants and teams of public servants - who see how their work can be redesigned in a more effective and efficient manner, and who drive that change. It will also require public servants, as managers and colleagues, who embrace and foster innovation and change.
Conclusion
It is my firm view that there is much that is positive about the Public Service and, in transforming how we do things, we must be careful to hold on to the traditional positives, including fairness, honesty and a real commitment to public service.
The Taoiseach’s Public Service Excellence Awards provide clear evidence that these attributes exist in abundance across all sectors. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the successful projects receiving awards here this afternoon. And I would also like to thank David Harvey and his selection committee for their efforts in what must have been a difficult task choosing the 20 winning projects from over 200 applications received.
In concluding, I want to thank all of the people in this room for all that you are doing, whether it is in hospitals, schools, Garda stations, local or central Government, or whatever setting. Your work in serving the citizens of this country has never been more important. I believe that we now need to build on our achievements and to work together to ensure that we make transformation happen for the benefit of citizens and public servants alike.
Thank you.
/ENDS