The Croke Park Implementation Group, chaired by Mr P.J. Fitzpatrick, has published its third and final report and has now completed its work.
The Implementation Body reports that exchequer paybill savings of €161m were achieved during the nine month review period to the end of December 2012. Non-pay or efficiency savings of €169m have also been reported to the Body. Total pay and non-pay savings since the commencement of the Agreement in 2010, and noted in the Implementation Body’s three annual reports, amounts to approximately €1.8bn.
The group agreed that the Croke Park Agreement continued to be an effective enabler for the implementation of reform and change across the public service and that considerable progress has been made on the consolidation of the State’s fiscal position since the commencement of the Agreement. In this light, the group has also agreed that the Agreement is in the final stage of its implementation lifecycle.
Members of the group included representatives of public service management and representatives from public service unions.
Changes
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin TD welcomed the findings of the group’s report and announced changes to the reporting and implementation structures to support the new Haddington Road Agreement which came into effect on July 1. The Implementation Body under the Croke Park Agreement is to be replaced by a new management union Agreement Oversight Group, to be chaired by the Labour Relations Commission.
The Minister added: “We need to build on the good progress that we have made since the Public Service Reform Plan was launched in November 2011. As an important first step, we will be developing a single integrated view of reform which will allow for a streamlined and consolidated approach to planning and reporting, with one single Integrated Reform Delivery Plan for each Department and Office.”