Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 February 2026
428. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the way in which his Department has ensured that the increase of over 50% in civil service numbers in the period 2015 to 2024 has resulted in a concomitant increase in productivity and delivery of public services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15121/26]
View answerThe delivery of public services is an essential focus for my Department and indeed all of Government. The Government continues to make record levels of public investment to ensure the delivery of high quality public services. This includes increases in staff numbers across the civil and public services.
Civil service staffing levels are largely managed through a policy of delegated sanction. This was introduced in 2015 in order to provide Offices and Departments with flexibility to manage identified business needs subject to remaining within overall pay ceilings, which are agreed as part of the budget and Estimates process.
Delegated sanction allows Departments to fill vacancies through recruitment and/or promotion in specified, designated grades up to and including Principal Officer (PO) standard or their equivalent. The policy was revised in October 2024 to extend to previously sanctioned posts at grades at Principal Officer higher level, and equivalent grades, and Assistant Secretary level, subject to there being no change to the job specification and/or the terms and conditions attaching to the vacant post being filled. New posts at these levels and changes to the job specification and/or terms and conditions of previously sanctioned posts, continue to require the prior, explicit consent of the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform.
Delegated sanction is subject to the overall pay bill ceiling as agreed as part of the annual Estimates and Budget process and as set out in the Revised Estimates Volume (REV). Projected staffing numbers and composition should fall within the parameters of the Department’s pay bill. Failure to remain within a given Exchequer pay bill allocation may result in the withdrawal of delegated sanction.
Under Section 3 of the Public Service Management Act 1997, Ministers are responsible for the performance of functions assigned to their Departments. Section 4 of the Act also provides that the Secretary General of each Department shall, subject to the policy direction of the Minister, manage the Department and deliver outputs as agreed with the Minister.
Programme budgeting organises public expenditure around each Department’s High Level Strategic Goals to show the connection between expenditure and resources, outputs and outcomes. This approach has been developed and revised over the course of the last 15 years. Performance information is also published in the Revised Estimates for Public Services (REV) and the Public Service Performance Report (PSPR). The selection of performance information is a matter for Accounting Officers and their departments. Each Department and Office chooses metrics to reflect the policy goals of programmes and does so as part of ensuring value for money and understanding the outcomes of public funding. This process provides additional valuable information to supplement Departmental strategies, business plans and other reporting.
The PSPR compiles the information of the individual Departments and provides a review of the delivery of public services against the commitments set by the various Departments and Offices in the REV for a given year.
