Posts tagged ‘Public sector reform’
Issues, Public sector, Public sector reform: Public service for the future: Bernard Le Masson interview
Monday, October 29th, 2012Bernard Le Masson, Accenture’s Global Managing Director of Health and Public Service, met with Owen McQuade during a recent visit to Dublin to discuss how public services are being transformed and the levers for the successful delivery in the future. Bernard Le Masson starts by detailing the trends that have permanently transformed the delivery of public services: “A world that is increasingly multi-polarised, the rising of the middle class in the emerging economies and the increasing pace of urbanisation. As a result, the fundamentals of public service have permanently...[full story]
Public sector reform: Smarter Government by IBM
Friday, August 19th, 2011Kevin McGowan, IBM Public Sector Lead in Ireland, speaks to eolas about smarter government and which areas of the public sector reform could deliver the most benefits. IBM has seen, both globally and locally, that all governments have been challenged by the financial crisis of recent times. The challenge to do ‘more for less’, emerged in 2008 with the financial crisis and has become much more acute for governments since the debt crises of mid- 2010. “When we look at our global government clients, the pressure is not just on reducing the deficit in terms of its absolute percentage...[full story]
Public sector reform: Changing the purchasing power: Vincent Campbell
Friday, August 19th, 2011Public procurement is a key part of the Government’s reform agenda. Stephen Dineen talks to the Director of the National Procurement Service, Vincent Campbell, about the reforms taking place. In these times of fiscal difficulty, one of the Government’s focuses is reforming the way in which it spends money. With the state having spent approximately €7 billion on goods and services and €8 billion on capital works last year (projected to be 10-15 per cent less in both categories this year), it is a major purchaser. Vincent Campbell is the man charged with implementing changes in...[full story]
Public sector reform: A new department: Robert Watt
Friday, August 19th, 2011Robert Watt, Secretary General of the new Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, discusses the challenges in setting up a new department and the practicalities of reforming the public sector with Owen McQuade. Robert Watt has not had the typical trajectory of a civil servant. The man running the department charged with public service reform returned to the Civil Service after working in the private sector through the opening up of senior positions to external competition. It has been a busy time for Watt. After his previous job as Assistant Secretary at the Department of Finance,...[full story]
Public sector reform: Cloud computing in government?
Friday, August 19th, 2011Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton has established a cross-government implementation taskforce on cloud computing. The new Government has highlighted the economic benefits of Ireland embracing cloud computing technology since it came into office. Cloud computing, which permits individuals or organisations to have computer data stored, backed-up and secured remotely, was highlighted in its Programme for Government, with a commitment to make Ireland a leader in the emerging IT market of cloud computing “by promoting greater use of cloud computing in the public sector,” and “organising...[full story]
Public sector reform: The Department of Social Protection’s Niall Barry
Friday, August 19th, 2011Innovation is very much at the heart of the Department of Social Protection’s role, Niall Barry, its Assistant Secretary of Information Systems, has told an eolas innovation conference. “We all have responsibilities as managers to innovate, we have the responsibility as managers to create the space for workers to innovate, and we have the responsibility as workers to play our part in innovation. It isn’t a case of sitting back and waiting for leadership to innovate for you,” Niall Barry says, explaining the transformation programme his own department has undertaken in recent...[full story]
Public sector reform: Transforming service delivery through technology
Friday, August 19th, 2011eolas highlights some of the technology being used by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, as discussed by Michael Bunyan, Director of Information Management and Technology. The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (soon to be agriculture, food and marine) recognises that “IT is going to be a significant driving factor in creating efficiencies in the coming years.” That’s according to IT Director Michael Bunyan, who spoke at an eolas ‘Innovation in public services seminar’ in April. The Croke Park Agreement highlighted the important role IT will play...[full story]
Public sector reform: Charles Leadbeater on public sector innovation
Friday, August 19th, 2011Innovation expert Charles Leadbeater discusses public sector innovation with Owen McQuade. Innovation is “not just about things like iPads”, Charles Leadbeater contends. Instead, it is an important concept that many organisations are not exploring thoroughly. The public sector in particular needs to innovate, according to Leadbeater. However, too often, innovative ideas get trapped in “pockets” and “then get translated into policy at national scale, too fast.” Innovation expert Charles Leadbeater has been a senior adviser to UK governments, advising Downing Street’s policy...[full story]
Public sector reform: Macroeconomics of public sector reform: Philip Lane
Friday, August 19th, 2011Philip Lane outlines the importance of public sector efficiency to Ireland’s economic recovery. Baumol’s disease is the one of the most widely-accepted propositions in macroeconomics. This refers to the regularity that the cost of domestically- produced labour-intensive services tends to trend upwards relative to the cost of manufactured goods as a society grows richer. This is mainly explained by differential productivity growth between the services and manufacturing sectors, since the scope for capital deepening and technological change has historically been stronger in the latter...[full story]
Public sector reform: HSE Reform
Friday, August 19th, 2011eolas reviews reform in the HSE as it faces budget cuts and a €208 million deficit. The Health Service Executive’s budget has decreased from €14.6 billion in 2009 to €14.1 billion in 2010 and €12.35 billion in 2011. Using the whole time equivalent (WTE) measure, the number of Health Service staff were reduced by 4,179 from 109,843 in March 2010 to 105,664 in March 2011. This includes 1,626 WTE staff leaving under the voluntary exit packages in 2010, 960 secondments from the Community Welfare Service to the Department of Social Protection and other reductions due to normal retirements. A...[full story]
