Desmond Greaves Summer School September 2010 BLAIR HORAN GENERAL SECRETARY Civil Public & Services Union

 Public Service provision depends on economic performance.  Budget 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.

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

 Modernisation of Irish Public Service commenced with Strategic Management Initiative  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.

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.

 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”.

 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. House Prices % % House Prices 1997 – % % % Total %

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. Inflation July % November %

 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.

Increases in Staffing 2001–2009 (McCarthy Report)  Health 20%  Education27%  State Agencies11%  Local Authorities6%  Civil Service7% 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%

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.