{"id":366,"date":"2016-05-04T14:56:34","date_gmt":"2016-05-04T14:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.iceh.net\/?page_id=366"},"modified":"2016-08-17T10:35:04","modified_gmt":"2016-08-17T10:35:04","slug":"white-paper-on-the-public-service","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.iceh.net\/?page_id=366","title":{"rendered":"White Paper on the Public Service"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Download<\/a><\/div>

We\u00a0 welcome the publication\u00a0 of the\u00a0\u00a0 White Paper,\u00a0 “Serving\u00a0 the\u00a0 Public\u00a0 Better”\u00a0\u00a0 which was\u00a0 launched on September 11th last\u00a0 by John\u00a0\u00a0 Boland, T.D.,\u00a0 Minister for the\u00a0 Public Service. The\u00a0 Minister\u00a0 is to\u00a0 be congratulated\u00a0 for\u00a0 the\u00a0 scope\u00a0\u00a0 and\u00a0 content of the\u00a0 document\u00a0 and for\u00a0 his promise that its\u00a0 publication\u00a0 heralds a comprehensive and\u00a0 substantive\u00a0 initiative\u00a0 to\u00a0 overhaul the machinery\u00a0 of\u00a0 public\u00a0\u00a0 administration\u00a0\u00a0 and the\u00a0 introduction\u00a0 of enabling legislation to see\u00a0 this\u00a0 through.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0 March\u00a0\u00a0 of\u00a0 last\u00a0 year\u00a0 we\u00a0 wrote\u00a0\u00a0 to\u00a0 Mr. Boland\u00a0 and\u00a0 referred to\u00a0 anomalies that result\u00a0\u00a0 from\u00a0\u00a0 divisions\u00a0 of\u00a0 responsibilities for\u00a0 environmental\u00a0 health\u00a0\u00a0 among several government\u00a0 departments.\u00a0 We\u00a0 indicated that\u00a0\u00a0 the\u00a0 general system of\u00a0 resources allocation\u00a0\u00a0 in\u00a0 relation\u00a0 to\u00a0 environmental health\u00a0\u00a0 related programmes was\u00a0 grossly inadequate\u00a0 and\u00a0 inefficient\u00a0 and\u00a0 that\u00a0 the public\u00a0\u00a0 not\u00a0 only\u00a0 had to\u00a0 bear the\u00a0 high\u00a0 cost, but\u00a0\u00a0 had also\u00a0 to\u00a0 suffer\u00a0 the\u00a0 consequences of\u00a0 poor\u00a0 environmental\u00a0 health\u00a0\u00a0 protection. The overwhelming need to coordinate and control\u00a0 functions\u00a0 in\u00a0 relation to environmental and\/or\u00a0\u00a0 health\u00a0\u00a0 duties\u00a0\u00a0 of different\u00a0 government\u00a0 departments\u00a0 was explained, and\u00a0 the\u00a0 need\u00a0 to\u00a0 ensure Environmental\u00a0 Health\u00a0\u00a0 Officer representation\u00a0 on\u00a0 relevant study\u00a0 groups was\u00a0 outlined.<\/p>\n

The White Paper echoes our concerns and proposes changes to remedy some serious defects. The Minister is to examine areas of overlap and duplication among government departments, and the Government is to draw up a programme of priority\u00a0\u00a0 areas for detailed examination so as to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. These measures are proposed as part of a fundamental and coordinated reappraisal of the machinery of public administration. The Department of Health\u00a0 is referred to as having\u00a0 special\u00a0 priority\u00a0\u00a0 needs\u00a0 and accordingly\u00a0 a departmental\u00a0 unit\u00a0 for\u00a0 the coordination of policy\u00a0 and the control\u00a0 and development\u00a0 of\u00a0 information\u00a0 technology services in the\u00a0 sector\u00a0\u00a0 has\u00a0 been\u00a0 set\u00a0 up. The\u00a0 report\u00a0\u00a0 acknowledges\u00a0 the Governments\u00a0 responsibility\u00a0 to\u00a0 protect life,\u00a0 property and\u00a0 community\u00a0 rights,\u00a0\u00a0 and refers\u00a0 to the\u00a0 difficulty\u00a0 of no one\u00a0 Minister being\u00a0 responsible\u00a0 for\u00a0 management delivery of the services provided by some 220,000 public service members. “Better coordination of overall policy”\u00a0\u00a0 is seen in the report\u00a0\u00a0 as a prerequisite for the delivery of a better\u00a0\u00a0 service.<\/p>\n

The report accepts the need for\u00a0 an input\u00a0 of experience\u00a0 and\u00a0 expertise from sources outside\u00a0 the\u00a0 public\u00a0\u00a0 service and accordingly\u00a0 proposes to\u00a0 forge\u00a0 a partnership\u00a0 of\u00a0 interest with\u00a0\u00a0 outside bodies. The\u00a0 Public\u00a0 Service Advisory Council are\u00a0 to\u00a0 investigate\u00a0 and recommend\u00a0 on\u00a0 how\u00a0 such\u00a0 an arrangement\u00a0 can\u00a0 best\u00a0 be achieved. In the\u00a0 Association’s\u00a0\u00a0 Submission\u00a0 on the proposed White\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paper we\u00a0 highlighted the\u00a0 importance\u00a0 of such\u00a0 expertise and referred to\u00a0 the\u00a0 unfortunate consequences\u00a0 of trying\u00a0\u00a0 to\u00a0 implement recommendations\u00a0 which,\u00a0\u00a0 in the absence of\u00a0 such\u00a0 an input\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 can\u00a0 prove\u00a0 to be\u00a0 impractical\u00a0 or\u00a0 inappropriate\u00a0 in relation to\u00a0 the\u00a0 professional\u00a0 staff involved\u00a0 in the\u00a0 delivery of a service.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0 Minister\u00a0 for\u00a0 the\u00a0 Public\u00a0 Service has expressed his\u00a0 appreciation\u00a0 to\u00a0 us for\u00a0 our Submission\u00a0 and\u00a0 it\u00a0 is with\u00a0\u00a0 some satisfaction\u00a0 we\u00a0 report\u00a0 that\u00a0 our recommendations\u00a0 have\u00a0 been considered\u00a0 and\u00a0 are\u00a0 in some\u00a0 substantial part\u00a0 dealt\u00a0 with\u00a0\u00a0 in this\u00a0 White\u00a0\u00a0 Paper.\u00a0 In launching the Report the Minister indicated that\u00a0\u00a0 its impetus arises from the Governments wish to have a public service in Ireland which\u00a0\u00a0 is second to none.\u00a0 We welcome the White\u00a0\u00a0 Paper and now look forward to the progress promised.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u00a0 welcome the publication\u00a0 of the\u00a0\u00a0 White Paper,\u00a0 “Serving\u00a0 the\u00a0 Public\u00a0 Better”\u00a0\u00a0 which was\u00a0 launched on September 11th last\u00a0 by John\u00a0\u00a0 Boland, T.D.,\u00a0 Minister for the\u00a0 Public Service. The\u00a0 Minister\u00a0 is to\u00a0 be congratulated\u00a0 for\u00a0 the\u00a0 scope\u00a0\u00a0 and\u00a0 content of the\u00a0 document\u00a0 and for\u00a0 his promise that its\u00a0 publication\u00a0 heralds a comprehensive and\u00a0 substantive\u00a0 initiative\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":352,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-366","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iceh.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iceh.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iceh.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iceh.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iceh.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=366"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.iceh.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":367,"href":"https:\/\/www.iceh.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/366\/revisions\/367"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iceh.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iceh.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}