Ciarán Connolly
Secretary General
PSMD
Department of Finance
4 May 2011
Public Service Agreement 2010 – 2014 – 1st Annual Reporting (May 2011)
Dear Ciarán,
I refer to your letter dated 14 April 2011 and the request to report on the Action Plans for
the Department and State Agencies under the Department’s remit. Enclosed are
separate reports for Part A – Report on Progress under Action Plan and Part B- Report
on Sustainable Savings in respect of the Department and State Agencies.
You will note from the Reports that the Department and Agencies are making good
progress on delivering on the commitments contained in the Plans. A reduction of staff
in the Department of 24.78 and a reduction of 52 staff in the Agencies under the
Department (above the requirement to achieve 34 in the Agencies) was achieved in the
reporting period.
In addition, the Department is taking a lead role regarding the provision of shared
services amongst its agencies. A detailed survey to examine the potential for, and
barriers to, shared services is currently underway and the results will ensure a common
understanding of the issues involved and inform the next steps of the process.
The transfer of the heritage function to the Department of Arts, Heritage and the
Gaeltacht and the transfer of the community functions from the Department of Tourism,
Culture and Sport to this Department will require the integration of new functions and
personnel into the Department. In this context, a revised Action Plan to reflect the new
Departmental structure of Environment, Community and Local Government will be
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prepared. I am copying these reports to Joe Hamill, Secretary General to the
Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, to assist him integrating reporting on
the heritage functions into the Action Plans for his Department and its agencies.
We are committed to implementing our commitments in the Plan and will continue to
pursue delivery of excellence in services to the public using available resources with
maximum efficiency.
Yours sincerely
______________________
Geraldine Tallon
Secretary General
cc
Robert Watt
Secretary General
Department of Public Expenditure and Reform
Joe Hamill
Secretary General
Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
Conor Falvey
Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht