Civil Service Renewal Plan provides opportunity to re-energise the civil service – Lawlor

Fine Gael TD for Kildare North, Anthony Lawlor, has today (Thursday) highlighted that only 4% of civil servants are aged 30 or under and that the Government’s Civil Service Renewal Plan provides a real opportunity to re-energise the civil service.

“The Civil Service Renewal Plan published today makes for positive reading. The extension of open recruitment to all senior management positions (Assistant Principal and above) is a really good thing, ensuring we match the right people with the appropriate skills, to the vacancies advertised.

“I was interested to read in the Plan that just 4% of civil servants are aged 30 or under. The years of the public sector recruitment embargo brought about by the economic crash have prevented young people from entering the civil service, previously a very attractive career option for graduates. Of course it’s essential to have experience, but it is time to renew and re-energise the civil service. The planned establishment of a Graduate Programme to attract and retain a regular intake of graduates will introduce fresh thinking, bring the age profile down and will ensure the future sustainability of the civil service.

“Other key measures of the plan include establishing the Civil Service Accountability Board, to be chaired by the Taoiseach, and the establishment of the first performance review process for Secretaries General of Government Departments. I also applaud the focus on achieving gender balance at every level of the civil service by reviewing supports and policies to ensure they are have a real impact.

“‘Smaller Better Government’ was one of the key points in Fine Gael’s Five Point Plan before the General Election. We campaigned on a plan to make the public sector better, smaller and cheaper.

“Three and a half years into government, we have made substantial progress towards achieving these goals. The public sector is much smaller in terms of headcount, it is cheaper to run and works more efficiently. The Exchequer pay bill has been reduced by over €3 billion since the height of the recession.

“Today’s Civil Service Renewal Plan focusses on ‘better’ government. Open recruitment means we can attract the most skilled people into key civil service positions and ensure that young people see the civil service as a viable career once again.”