Teagasc leads drive for better public service

Increased productivity despite major job losses makes Teagasc a standard bearer for the Government’s bid to reform the public sector, reports Stephen Cadogan.

TEAGASC has emerged as a standard bearer for the Government’s bid to reduce public sector costs, which may include up to 37,000 job losses, by 2014. Reducing costs — which include a €15 billion annual public service wage bill — is part of Ireland’s bailout deal with the EU, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Latest statistics show that public service staffing has fallen by almost 16,000 since 2008, from 320,000 to 304,000, much of it coming through the Croke Park Agreement.