FG’s reform policy - Just missing some pie in the sky

There are aspects of Fine Gael’s 85-page policy document on public sector reform that will be welcomed, but when it comes to the specifics some of the proposals seem particularly woolly and the title of the overall programme – Reinventing Government – smacks of a sound bite that is hauntingly reminiscent of Fine Gael’s controversial Celtic Snail in November 2000.

Abolishing 145 state bodies and companies and cutting 10% of the money spent on public bodies by confronting waste, duplication and inefficiency sounds appealing. Headline grabbing is easy, but convincing people of the practicality of the proposals is a different matter. Capping public service pay at €200,000 per annum and cutting the size of Government departments sound like practical ideas, especially if the politicians take the lead by introducing ministerial carpooling, abolishing the Seanad, and reducing the size of the Dáil by 20 seats. The proposals also include the abolition of both the HSE and Fás and their replacement “with better, more effective alternatives”.

It seems that all that is missing is some pie in the sky. Too many people will remember the last major reform of the health service, which involved the amalgamation of the health boards into the HSE. It was supposed to eliminate administrative duplication, but all of the jobs were guaranteed, with the result that any savings were minimal and those were more than offset by the extravagance of those running the HSE.