Fine Gael’s plans to modernise public services, which will protect the frontline, ensure public sector pay is not hit and support the taxpayer, can be driven from within the public sector, Denis Naughten has stated.

“The expertise needed to modernise the public service already exists within the public service itself and nobody knows better how services need to improved than the people who deliver them at the front line on a daily basis,” stated Denis Naughten.

“Fine Gael is committed to the public service and is determined to protect vital frontline services provided by doctors, nurses, teachers, Gardaí and local authority workers. Under our plans the frontline will be protected, there will be no compulsory redundancies and pay will not be hit.

“Over €5 billion in savings can instead be made by tackling waste, duplication and inefficiency. This can be done by the creation of a single public entitlement service, business inspectorate and licence authority; abolishing over 145 quangos, state bodies and companies and dismantling the HSE among other measures.

“This is compared to proposals from Labour and Fianna Fáil to increase taxes. The majority of public servants do vital work and we recognise that many public servants feel they are being unfairly targeted as a result of a crisis they did not create.”

Referring to plans to modernise services Denis Naughten said: “The General Register Office in Roscommon Town is a perfect example of how Fine Gael wants to modernise the public service. Civil servants from the Departments of Health and Children and Social and Family Affairs created a strategy to computerise the GRO, redesign work processes and the organisation of GRO to support a modern civil registration system. The system has won international awards but, more importantly, it has delivered real benefits to Irish taxpayers

“The expertise to modernise the public service is already in the public service, nobody knows better how services need to be improved than the people who deliver the services at the front line on a daily basis.

“Contrary to what some commentators have said public sector workers have also suffered, for example the average teacher has taken a 17% pay cut and is facing the prospect of larger classes and fewer resources. Rather than undermining public sector pay we believe that we have to modernise how we do our work.

“Fine Gael believes that working together Government and the Public Service can transform the way Government services are delivered,” concluded Denis Naughten.

Fine Gael‘s plan for a modern public service is available at www.finegael.ie/upload/ReinventingGovernment.pdf