Chambers lays out key NDP reforms

REFORM of the Public Service is key to delivery of the new National Development Plan (NDP), according to Chambers Ireland.

Other vital components of a successful NDP 2007-2013 will include access to broadband, delivery on Transport 21 and secure energy supplies.

Those key points are contained in a submission to Government by Chambers Ireland on the NDP.

At the launch yesterday John Dunne, Chambers Ireland chief executive said: “Reform of the civil service should be a key element of the National Development Plan 2007-2013 and is the main element on which efficiency and delivery of the plan can be assured.”

Other Chambers Ireland recommendations propose:

* Delivery of realistic commuting times, essential to attracting further inward investment and key people to the economy.

* The NDP must build on and sustain the policy framework outlined in the National Spatial Strategy.

* Long-term commuting has to be avoided to prevent “ghost economies” emerging nationwide.

* Gathering of statistical information to be fundamentally revised.

* Public Service to be turned into a fully-professional organisation, capable of delivering on the NDP.

* Public Private Partnerships to be used to accelerate projects of national importance - while ownership of such infrastructure must remain with the State.

Part of the success of delivering the plan requires open recruitment to all levels of the public service, he said.

It was imperative also that public sector skilled shortages be filled immediately from the private sector where necessary, he said.

Mr Dunne said delivery of the plan required new systems to be set in place to facilitate the recruitment of specialist skills in areas such as statistical analysis, project management and Informational Technology.

He added it was imperative that adequate skills and resources were made available to the Central Statistics Office, which is responsible for producing key technical economic data.