What do Ireland’s senior public servants think of reform?

Same Change Image Courtesy of Stuart Miles and FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This is the question Dr Richard Boyle considers in the latest paper published as part of the IPA’s State of the Public Service research series. The paper draws from a survey of senior managers carried out as part of Ireland’s participation in the EU’s COCOPS project (Coordinating for Cohesion in the Public Sector of the Future).

Participants in the survey were asked a number of questions regarding management and work practices, Public Service Reform and their attitudes to working in the Public Service.

The good news is that the majority of participants felt the quality of public administration in Ireland has improved over the past five years. Furthermore, the greatest improvements in performance were in the areas we have prioritised in recent years: cost and efficiency; service quality; innovation; and transparency and openness. These findings show we are making real progress on our Public Service Reform programme.

Of course, the report also highlights areas where challenges remain. For instance, many participants have a perception of reform as top-down and focussed on cuts rather than structural reforms. Others feel that reform has only been partially successful. Reform, however, is not a destination; it is, and should be, an ongoing process. Many of these issues are being tackled as part of the new Public Service Reform Plan, the Civil Service Renewal programme and the political reform process. I am confident that attitudes to the reform effort will improve further as major initiatives, such as digital government, shared services and procurement reform, bed in and deliver the promised benefits.  This will be further reinforced as we re-invest some of the efficiency savings we are delivering into improved services – this ‘reform dividend’ will help sustain the Public Service Reform programme into the future.

The findings in relation to attitudes to working in the Public Service are also interesting. The majority of respondents said they were motivated by the desire to help others and improve society, as well as by the interesting and varied work a career in the Public Service offers. It was no surprise to me then to find that the majority also expressed a high degree of satisfaction with their jobs. We need to work harder to communicate these positive aspects of life in the Public Service, especially in light of the finding that many participants believe that the Public Service is not seen as an attractive career to potential new entrants.

Once again, the IPA has done us a good service in providing useful insights as we pursue our ambitious Public Service Reform programme.

Robert Watt, Secretary General, Department of Public Expenditure and Reform

Image Courtesy of  Stuart Miles and FreeDigitalPhotos.net