Les leçons de l’Irlande

Au début des années 80, l’économie irlandaise traînait au dernier rang des pays de l’OCDE. L’État avait pris tellement de place dans l’économie que plus rien ne fonctionnait et le taux de chômage se maintenait aux environs de 20 %. Les Irlandais quittaient leur pays pour des cieux plus ensoleillés.
Lorsque les électeurs en ont eu assez des promesses creuses des politiciens interventionnistes, ils élisent une nouvelle génération de politiciens responsables qui promettaient de mettre fin à l’État tentaculaire et de redémarrer l’économie.
Au début des années 2000, l’économie irlandaise trônait au premier rang des pays de l’OCDE, le taux de chômage se maintenait en deçà de 5 % et les Irlandais qui avaient quitté, revenaient enrichir leur patrie.
Malheureusement, les électeurs ont la mémoire courte et les politiciens interventionnistes, qui promettaient le retour de l’État nounou, reprirent le pouvoir. Il arriva ce qui devait arriver. Le rôle du gouvernement dans l’économie s’accentua. Les politiciens au pouvoir, tout aussi irresponsables que leurs prédécesseurs des années 70 et 80, promirent de renflouer les banques pour leur éviter la faillite.
Le résultat : l’Irlande est au bord de la faillite, le taux de chômage demeure dans les deux chiffres et les jeunes les plus talentueux quittent le pays. C’est le retour à la case départ.
Heureusement, certains politiciens se souviennent de la recette gagnante des années 80 et sont en voie de remettre l’économie irlandaise sur les rails.
Le cycle prospérité – interventionnisme - faillite – austérité profite aux politiciens et à tous ceux qui bénéficient des largesses du gouvernement au détriment des contribuables. Pour mettre fin à ce cycle infernal, il faudrait que la constitution limite le rôle de l’État dans l’économie. Ce n’est pas pour demain, car aucun politicien n’a intérêt à imposer des limites au pouvoir de dépenser des gouvernements.
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PUBLIC SERVICE REFORM
17th November, 2011
Executive Summary
Citizens and businesses expect a modern Public Service to continually improve and deliver services faster, better and more cost effectively. Innovation, flexibility and the delivery of streamlined services must be at the heart of a reformed Public Service. Ireland has a long and proud tradition of service to the public and the State, and we must build on that to make it easier for citizens to access services and engage with Government. Public services are essential to the functioning of our economy and society. However, it is clear that they must be radically reformed in light of the challenges that we face. This is why this Government is driving forward significant change, underpinned by its historic mandate.
The scale and complexity of the task to place the public finances on a sustainable footing is evident. The challenging fiscal position which we face as a country means that far-reaching reform of the Public Service is essential to ensure that it is customer focused, leaner, more efficient, better integrated and delivering maximum value for money. We are currently borrowing over €1¼ billion every month to pay our ongoing expenses. This excludes any banking related expenditure. We are borrowing from the European Union (EU) / International Monetary Fund (IMF) to continue funding our public services, and pay staff costs, pensions and social welfare benefits.
For this reason, a programme of reform has been ongoing since this Government came to office. We have shown that change must be led from the top and have already:
• reduced the pay of the Taoiseach and Ministers;
• changed Ministerial transport arrangements;
• introduced new pay ceilings for senior public servants;
• reduced the number of Oireachtas Committees;
• published legislation to significantly reduce future Public Service pensions costs;
• reconstituted the Top Level Appointments Commission (TLAC);
• changed the TLAC terms that apply to Secretaries General on retirement; and
• undertaken a Comprehensive Review of Expenditure across all Departments.
Today, alongside our ambitious Public Service Reform Plan, we are announcing:
• this year we are expecting a reduction of some 5,000 in staff numbers across the Public Service to bring the numbers below 300,000 by the end of 2011. New high level targets for each sector will be set out at Budget time. In total, we expect to achieve a planned reduction of 37,500 staff to 282,500 by 2015, from a peak of 320,000 in 2008. When delivered, this will have reduced our gross pay bill by over €2.5 billion (or 15%) since 2008;
• a new and expanded programme of State Agency rationalisation (summarised in Appendix II), which will rationalise 48 such bodies by the end of 2012, with a further 46 to be critically reviewed by June 2012. These measures will deliver enhanced service efficiencies, together with ensuring a more focused and democratically accountable Public Service;
• in light of the budgetary and staffing outlook, the Government has also examined the current position of the Decentralisation programme which was introduced in 2003 and has decided that it should be cancelled. This will mean that 40 projects will be cancelled, 32 others - particularly those where permanent accommodation has been provided - will be left in situ and 22 others are being reviewed. The Government will be making a decision on that review shortly (the details are set out in Appendix III);
and
• the Public Service Agreement Implementation Body is separately publishing a summary of progress on the implementation of the Agreement over the last six months, which shows that good progress continues to be made in that regard.
The Public Service Reform Plan addresses a wide range of issues such as:
• implementation of shared services models for HR, payroll, pensions etc;
• evaluation of new business models for the delivery of non-core services;
• reform of public procurement processes and property rationalisation; and
• reducing costs, addressing duplication and eliminating waste to support job creation.
The Comprehensive Review of Expenditure process will set out a key set of objectives and priority areas to be funded. The delivery of these objectives will be supported by the ongoing reform in each Sector, along with an agreed set of cross-cutting reform initiatives. The intent of the cross-cutting initiatives is to reduce duplication and support the delivery of more streamlined services and support structures. These will continue to be enabled by the ongoing progress being made in the implementation of the Public
Service Agreement.
At the heart of this reform agenda is a focus on five major commitments to change:
(i) Placing customer service at the core of everything we do;
(ii) Maximising new and innovative service delivery channels;
(iii) Radically reducing our costs to drive better value for money;
(iv) Leading, organising and working in new ways; and
(v) Strong focus on implementation and delivery.
The above committments to change are summarised below, with more detailed information presented in Section 3 and in the full Public Service Reform Plan at
Appendix I.
(i) Placing Customer Service at the core of everything we do
We are committed to introducing a wide ranging suite of initiatives to improve the citizen’s access to and interaction with Government services. The delivery of more streamlined and innovative interactions with citizens will be enabled by embracing new technologies, increasing our online services and increasing integration of support systems across Government. For example:
• The new Public Services Card will facilitate easier access to Government services, with the rollout of the first cards having already commenced;
• The Government is committed to providing the online publication of information on the performance of our key services. Building on the successful Healthstat initiative, we will evaluate the potential for a wider GovStat initiative during 2012; and
• We are implementing a new single awarding authority for student grants including an online application process, leading to greater simplicity, speed and efficiency in the processing of grant applications for more than 72,000 students. This will be launched on a phased basis, commencing in the 2012/2013 academic year.
(ii) Maximising new and innovative service delivery channels
The Public Service has a strong track record of using technology to improve customer service and drive efficiency as demonstrated in services such as Revenue Online, Motor Tax Online and the online payment of Non Principal Private Residence charge.
There will be renewed emphasis on use of new innovative technologies to support enhanced customer service channels, to improve information sharing and to reduce transaction costs. For example:
• www.gov.ie which is a central portal to over 300 public services online;
• A range of additional electronic services, including first time voter registration, progressive rollout of “fixyourstreet.ie” and other relevant projects set out in the Reform Plan;
• Improved sharing of data on businesses through the Public Service using Revenue’s Business Register, commencing in 2013;
• Piloting the use of Cloud Computing in the Public Service during 2012 in order to evaluate the benefits case for implementation across the Public Service; and
• The delivery of more streamlined and innovative interactions with citizens will also be enabled by embracing new technologies.
(iii) Radically reducing our costs to drive better value for money
The need to reduce public spending and drive greater efficiency is clearly evident and has been committed to. We will relentlessly focus on delivering better value for money through the implementation of Public Service Reform. For example:
• A 23,500 reduction in Public Service numbers by 2015 from end 2010 levels. This is double the previous Government’s headcount reduction target;
• There are new business models and opportunities emerging that could support the delivery of a range of our non-core processes or services, where appropriate. We will identify and evaluate these opportunities during 2012;
• With reducing staff numbers, we will seek all opportunities to rationalise our property portfolio, improve our utilisation rates, reduce maintenance costs and raise income through the sale of property assets, where appropriate; and
• We will accelerate the reform of procurement and identify opportunities to consolidate our ICT infrastructure, in particular through the use of data centres.
(iv) Leading, Organising and Working in new ways
Across the Public Service, we will develop new ways of working in the delivery of services. For example:
• We will streamline administrative operations and eliminate duplication through business process improvement and the implementation of shared service models within each sector;
• HR, Payroll and Pensions shared services projects are commencing for the Civil Service with the intention of streamlining operations and removing duplicate activities on a phased basis commencing in 2012 and to be completed by 2015; and
• Sector specific shared services implementation plans will be in place by end Quarter 2, 2012. Initial priority areas have been identified.
(v) Strong focus on implementation and delivery
The success of Public Service Reform is highly dependent on the embedding of a robust approach to delivery. This will involve aligning senior leadership teams across the Public Service around a common plan and set of deliverables. For example:
• A Cabinet Committee on Public Service Reform has already been established and is actively engaged in leading the Reform Plan;
• A Reform and Delivery Office has been established within the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to drive implementation and prioritisation;
• The office is led by a Programme Director, recently recruited, with successful experience in implementing large scale restructuring in the private sector to improve customer service and reduce costs; and
• The Senior Public Service has been established to further enhance the leadership skills and performance of our senior people.
Through reform, we will create a Public Service of which we can be proud, delivering flexible and responsive services to our customers. We will embed a strong culture of innovation, change and managed risk across the Public Service. This will be led by a senior leadership team with a relentless focus on service and results and through the effective engagement with our staff on this challenging but inspiring agenda.