Link Magazine Issue 43 – February 2006 - Department of Public ...

www.bettergov.ie
THE NEWSLETTER OF BETTER GOVERNMENT
February 2006 Issue No. 43
On The Move!
Staff of the Civil Service Training and Development Centre (CSTDC), Dept. of Finance
Public
Service
Excellence
Awards
New CPMR
Report
See Page 4
Public
Procurement
See Page 10
See Page 3
Any comments? e-mail us at: bettergov@taoiseach.gov.ie

Editorial
Contents
Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
We Pay You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Public Service Excellence Awards . . . . . .3
New CPMR Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
New Benchmarking Body . . . . . . . . . . .5
Q-Mark Achievement . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Decentralising CSTDC . . . . . . . . . . . .6/7
Equality Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Competition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Improving Procurement . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Business Regulation Forum . . . . . . . . .11
RIA Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
We Pay You!!!
There are plenty of interesting articles in this, the first
edition of LINK of 2006.
Many of you will have been eagerly awaiting news on the
Public Service Excellence Awards (see across). I am very
pleased to report that the Selection Committee has
confirmed the award winners. Congratulations to all of the
award winners and to everyone else who participated in the
Taoiseach’s Awards to date. The Selection Committee had a
very difficult task in selecting the award winning projects
and your support and participation for the Awards is very
much appreciated.
The Civil Service Training and Development Centre
(CSTDC) of the Department of Finance is in the process of
decentralising from Ballsbridge, Dublin to Tullamore, Co.
Offaly. Read about the challenges and opportunities
involved on pages 6-7.
Other items that may be of interest include an update on a
training course designed for Regulatory Impact Analysis,
the establishment of the Business Regulation Forum and
the publication by the Equality Authority of new Guidelines
for Equal Status Polices in Enterprises.
There is also an article on the report from the Committee
for Public Management Research on Performance
Verification and Public Service Pay. A short piece on the new
Benchmarking Body, which is due to report in the second
half of 2007, is on page 5.
Congratulations are also due to the Child Benefit Section
of the Department of Social and Family Affairs for being
awarded the Q-Mark recently (see page 5 also).
Did you know that you can earn €50
for yourself by sending us an article
for inclusion in LINK newsletter. If
you have a contribution to make to
LINK, send it to us. If we print it,
we’ll send you €50, it’s that simple!
So sharpen up your pencils and get
scribbling. Articles can be forwarded
to the Editor, LINK Newsletter,
Department of the Taoiseach, Upper
Merrion Street, Dublin 2 or by e-mail
to bettergov@taoiseach.gov.ie
The National Public Procurement Policy Unit (NPPPU) in
the Department of Finance is responsible for developing
policy in the area of public sector procurement. Find out
about the latest developments in this important area on
page 10.
Why not enter our regular competition (page 9), for a
chance to win a great prize.
Thanks to our contributors for this edition and your
suggestions for content are always welcome.
Regards, Alan Plummer, Editor
Lo Call: 1890 227 227, Direct: (01) 619 4483
e-Mail: alan.plummer@taoiseach.gov.ie
2

Public Service Excellence Awards 2006
There has been a superb response to the Public
Service Excellence Awards and the independent
selection committee, chaired by Ms. Marian
Finucane, had a very difficult task in
selecting the winning projects. After a
selection process, involving 153 nominated
projects, the committee decided that the
projects below should be awarded a Public
Service Excellence Award.
The award winners showcased their projects
in the Imperial Hotel in Cork in February
and are now looking forward to
participating in the Public Service Excellence
Showcase and Awards Ceremony 2006 in Dublin
Castle on Friday 31st March. The Dublin Castle
Organisation
Project
Showcase is an opportunity for representatives from
public service organisations to share their
experiences of change, innovation and
project management.
Three of the award winning projects will go
forward to represent Ireland at the 4th
Quality Conference for Public
Administrations in the EU (4QC), which will
be held in Finland in September 2006.
As places at the Showcase are limited, early
reservation of your place is advised.
Contact Jacqueline Dooner,
Tel: (01) 619 4031 or by e-mail:
jacqueline.dooner@taoiseach.gov.ie
ComReg
Cork City Council
Crisis Pregnancy Agency
Courts Service
Department of Agriculture and Food
Dublin City Council
Galway City Council
H.S.E. East Coast Area
H.S.E. North East Area
H.S.E. North East Area
H.S.E. Western Area
H.S.E. Western Area
H.S.E Western Area (CROI)
Irish Prison Service
Irish Prison Service
Local Government Management Services Board
Louth County Council
REACH Agency
Sth. Infirmary Victoria Univ. Hosp., Cork
Waterford County Council
callcosts.ie website
Park and Ride facility
Positive Options Project
Commercial Court
Animal Health Computer System (AHCS)
Putting the Customer First
Ballybane Neighbourhood Village project
Slán Abhaile Project
Cavan/Monaghan Mental Health Services
The Newgrange Process – care for the terminally ill
Farmers Have Hearts - health screening programme
‘Oro-motor’ speech groups for pre-school children
The Cardiac Club - community cardiac health
New Laundry System - Wheatfield Prison
Achieving Excellence in Food Safety and Food Management
Performance Management System for Local Authorities
Animal Care Compound - innovative design, build and
operation
Death Event Publication Service (DEPS)
Pigmented Lesion Clinic - rapid access and diagnosis
Best Practice Recycling
3

Launch of Report on Performance
Verification and Public Service Pay
A seminar to launch a report by the Committee for
Public Management Research (CPMR) entitled
“Performance Verification and Public Service Pay”,
was held in Farmleigh House, last December.
The Report provides an assessment of the
performance verification process under Sustaining
Progress, which provided for the establishment of
Performance
Verification Groups
(PVGs) for the main
sectors of the
public service, i.e.
the Civil Service,
Health, Local
Government,
Education and
Justice sectors.
These groups are
responsible for
making
recommendations
as to whether the
pay increases
provided for under the agreement for public servants
should be paid on the basis of whether there has
been:
stable Industrial relations,
co-operation with flexibility and ongoing change,
and
satisfactory Implementation of the modernisation
agenda.
The study involved a comprehensive consultation
process, which included interviews with the
Chairpersons of the sectoral PVGs and most of the
individual PVG members. Interviews also took place
with the sectoral PVG secretariats and the Secretaries
General from a number of Government Departments
with key responsibilities in relation to performance
verification. In addition questionnaires were sent to
approximately 120 public service organisations to
gain their views on the process.
The attendance at the seminar included a large
number of PVG members and Departmental
Secretaries General. Presentations were made by a
number of speakers who provided valuable insights
in relation to their unique perspectives on the PVG
process, including:
Donal de Buitleir, Allied Irish Bank and Chairman
of the Civil Service PVG,
Matt Merrigan, SIPTU and member of the Health
and Local Government PVGs; and
Joe Horan,
South Dublin
County Council and
member of the
Local Government
PVG.
The presentation by
Richard Boyle of
the CPMR
highlighted the key
points to emerge
from the report. He
noted that the
study found wide
support for the
broad structures and processes that have been put
in place to manage the performance verification
process. He also outlined some of the main
recommendations and conclusions reached in the
report. These included the following points:
Eddie Sullivan, Department of Finance , Matt Merrigan, SIPTU, Joe Horan,
South Dublin County Council, Sara White, Department of Communications,
Marine and Natural Resources,Richard Boyle, IPA, Donal de Buitleir, AIB
One of the most significant benefits of
performance verification has been the
contribution it has made to industrial peace,
A particular industrial relations benefit of the
performance verification process is that it is seen
as acting as an incentive to sort out problems
“below the radar”,
Performance verification has had an impact in
terms of making things happen to a deadline,
driven by the dates for the pay increases,
Performance verification is making a useful
contribution to flexibility, change and
modernisation in the public service.
Copies of the Report are available on
www.cpmr.gov.ie
4

New Benchmarking Body
On 13th January, 2006, a new Public Service
Benchmarking Body, was established by Mr Brian
Cowen T.D., Minister for Finance. The Benchmarking
Body is due to report in the second half of 2007.
The new Body will examine the pay and conditions
of similar jobs in the public and private sectors and
recommend whether the pay levels for the public
service should be altered. Launching the new
process, the Minister for Finance said that “it is
important that public service pay is in line with the
market – so that we can continue to attract high
calibre people who can provide excellent health,
education services etc.”
This is the second time public service pay levels
have been benchmarked against those in the
private sector. The first Benchmarking Body
reported in 2002. The recommendations of the first
Benchmarking body were based on detailed research
into pay and jobs in the public and private sectors.
In order to examine jobs, the Body undertook
detailed job evaluations. This involves measurement
of the demands and responsibilities of each job
The members of the Benchmarking Body are:
being evaluated and a judgement as to the level of
compensation involved.
Benchmarking is an alternative to the “relativities”
approach to pay determination. The recent NESC
report (People, Productivity and Purpose) noted
that the benchmarking approach had yielded
significant benefits including:
Industrial peace - by contributing to industrial
peace, benchmarking helped to create conditions
in which critical issues of service quality could
be addressed;
replacement of relativities - benchmarking
overcame the limitations of “leapfrogging” pay
claims across sectors
certainty - it replaced the system whereby pay
awards were made over several years by different
awarding bodies
performance - 75% of the pay awards were made
conditional on cooperation with change and
modernisation.
the Department of Agriculture and Food,
Dan O’Keefe, S.C., Chairman,
Billy Attley, former SIPTU General
Secretary,
Tom McKevitt, former Deputy Secretary
General of the Public Service Executive
Union,
Olive Braiden of the Arts Council and
former Chair of the Justice Sector
Performance Verification Group,
John Malone, former Secretary General of
Willie Slattery, Managing Director of
State Street International (Ireland) Ltd,
Brendan Walsh, Emeritus Professor of
Economics, UCD.
Q-Mark Achievement
Congratulations to the Child Benefit Section of the
Department of Social and Family Affairs which was
awarded the Q-Mark recently. The
Department’s Quality Customer Service
Unit supported the Section is attaining
the award. Excellence Ireland Quality
Association (EIQA) awarded the Q-Mark in
recognition of the quality of the work of
the Section. Assessment involves an
independent audit of a range of factors. The award
is open to both private and public sector
organisations and represents a fine
achievement for the Child Benefit
Section. You can read all about how the
Child Benefit Section attained the award
in the most recent edition of the
Department’s magazine, Social Affairs.
5

CSTDC Decentralising Chal
Supporting the Public Service Modernisation
Programme
The Civil Service Training and Development Centre (CSTDC) is
on the move to Tullamore in summer 2006 after more than 30
years in Lansdowne House. Many readers will have, over the
years, spent challenging days in Lansdowne House learning new
skills to enhance their own and their organisations’ performance.
There is little doubt that the pace of change in the Irish public
service has accelerated considerably in recent years in response
to increasing complex and demanding environments in which it
operates.
CSTDC supports the public service modernisation programme
in developing core civil service skills and innovative training and
development interventions. The move to Tullamore provides a
set of challenges but also opportunities as CSTDC continues to
support the public sector reform programme.
CSTDC has the primary responsibility for training and
development policy in the civil service and works closely with a
series of high-level interdepartmental Networks and the crossdepartmental
Training and Development Committee in
supporting civil service modernisation. CSTDC will commence its
operations in Tullamore from 1st September, 2006.
Vision
In terms of moving to Tullamore, significant change also
presents an opportunity to re-evaluate where CSTDC is going
and how it is going to get there. The vision for CSTDC is to
create an internationally recognised centre for management
training and development and language training which will
support the public sector reform process and the wider
competitiveness agenda in the Irish economy.
CSTDC has already commenced training in Tullamore in advance
of its permanent move. A
key objective will be to
create and sustain a
national presence in
Tullamore as the first stage
in establishing an
internationally recognised
management training and
development and language
training centre.
The Primary Targets for
CSTDC in the Transition
Period are:
1. Maintaining Business Continuity
The overriding priority for CSTDC is to maintain business
continuity in the transition period. This means that CSTDC must
continue to deliver demand-driven training programmes for
Departments including new training and development
interventions. New products such as the Regulatory Impact
Analysis programme and an Intercultural Awareness
Programme have been designed in response to the demand to
support the competitiveness agenda and to better understand
the dynamic and evolving nature of Irish society in a globalised
world.
Maintaining business continuity also means ensuring transfer of
the wealth of skills, experience and corporate know-how from
the existing cadre of trainers to the new team. This process is
now well advanced with the majority of the new CSTDC team
now in place. CSTDC is continuing to offer training programmes
during the transition to Tullamore.
These include:
In terms of senior management development, CSTDC is
Public Procurement
Legislative Process
Regulatory Impact Analysis
Policy Analysis
Capital Appraisal Guidelines
EU Meeting Skills
Financial Management
Intercultural Awareness
Pre-retirement
Freedom of Information
The Line Manager
responsible for the Secretaries General and the Assistant
Secretary Conferences. Restoration of the Principal Officers’
Conference has been identified as a priority measure for CSTDC.
Proposals are being formulated for a suite of development
interventions targeted at Principal Officer and Assistant Secretary
level. The input of the cross-departmental Training and
Development Committee will be sought on these proposals.
CSTDC is also responsible for the sourcing, co-ordination,
administrative support and evaluation of a range of innovative
third-level programmes including at Masters level. In addition,
CSTDC manages the Assistant Secretary, Personnel Officers’,
Departmental Training Officers’ and the PMDS Networks.
2. Meeting the Demand for New Training
Interventions
The article on the new Regulatory Impact Analysis course (page
8) illustrates how well CSTDC continues to meet demand for new
6

lenges and Opportunities
training interventions in the transition period. CSTDC will also
shortly hold its first workshops on diversity and interculturalism.
3. Supporting Civil Service Decentralisation
CSTDC finds itself in the unique position of providing supports to
decentralising Departments whilst at the same time
decentralising itself. In terms of supporting decentralising
Departments, CSTDC has approached this task at two levels.
Firstly, CSTDC has produced a series of support manuals designed
to provide practical advice and guidance to decentralising
sections and divisions. These include Job Guide – Guidance for
Managers, Business Process Mapping and Learning New Jobs –
Guidelines for Jobholders, Managers and Training Staff.
Secondly, CSTDC will continue to engage with decentralising
Departments to identify and deliver training and development
interventions to support the decentralisation process. Advice and
guidance of the Training and Development Committee and the
Personnel Officers’ Network will also be sought in relation to
these interventions.
Language Training Services
CSTDC moving to Tullamore also presents new challenges and
opportunities for the provision of language services. How
language training is to be provided effectively, while being
delivered from Tullamore, on a regional basis, is a key
consideration. New imaginative and innovative business delivery
methods may be necessary. The changing demographic and
cultural mix in Ireland and Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla 2003
are significant changes in the operating environment. CSTDC is
looking forward to devising new solutions to language service
delivery from Tullamore while maintaining the broad mix of
existing programmes and high standards of delivery.
4. Repositioning CSTDC as primary provider of senior
management training
and development
The restoration of the
Principal Officers’ Conference
and other initiatives under
development at Principal
Officer and Assistant
Secretary level will
commence the process of
enhancing CSTDC’s provision
of quality development
programmes for senior
management. The views of
the Assistant Secretary and
Personnel Officers’ Networks and the Training and Development
Committee will form important inputs into the process.
Stakeholder
Engagement
To deliver its vision, CSTDC
will actively engage with
stakeholders that have an
interest in the business. The
success of CSTDC’s business
will depend on how well it
meets the needs of its
stakeholders. It will
continue to adopt a
proactive approach to
development and delivery of
key training and
development products in association with its stakeholders.
The move to Tullamore presents new opportunities for CSTDC to
engage with the local community, business interests and the
third level sector as well as re-energising contacts with existing
networks and the Training and Development Committee. The
opportunity to engage constructively with the local community
will be shared by many decentralising Departments. CSTDC has
already engaged with the Athlone Institute of Technology in
regard to identifying how the capabilities of that organisation
can be made available to CSTDC in the furtherance of civil
service modernisation.
As Departments become embedded in local communities under
the Decentralisation Programme they will have to compete with
other employers for quality staff. Research clearly demonstrates
that, in a competitive marketplace, employees will choose
employers who have a commitment and a sense of corporate
responsibility in how they engage with their staff, the local
community, the environment, clients and suppliers. Training and
development opportunities will be a key factor in attracting and
retaining staff to decentralised offices in particular.
Going Forward
CSTDC is determined to deliver quality training and development
interventions to our clients to address current and future needs.
We look forward to working with all stakeholders to support the
public sector reform programme and to deliver the vision of an
internationally recognised training and development function
from our new Headquarters in Tullamore.
For more information, see www.training.gov.ie
7

New Equality Guidelines
The Equality Authority recently published
Guidelines for Equal Status Policies in
Enterprises. This publication is part of a series
aimed at promoting equality issues in
organisations. Earlier publications include
Guidelines for Employment Equality Policies in
Enterprises and Guidelines for Equality and
Diversity Training in Enterprises.
The guidelines were produced by the National
Framework Committee for Equal Opportunities
which was established under Sustaining Progress to
support equality in the workplace. The purpose of
the guidelines is to:
Provide a rationale for the preparation of an
equal status policy,
Provide guidance on how to go about
preparing such a policy,
Establish the areas the policy needs to
cover; and how these areas could be
addressed,
Identify materials and sources of
information and advice to assist in
preparing an equal status policy.
The publication is designed to address equality
policies in relation to the provision of goods and
services. It offers a step by step approach in
developing an equal
status policy and
contains very useful
reference information
on the Equal Status
Acts.
Organisations may
wish to note that
this series of
publications is
supported by a
funding scheme.
Funding is
available for
organisations
with less than 250
employees to develop employment
equality policies; to provide equality and diversity
training; or, to develop equal status policies on the
basis of guidance in these publications.
Further information is available from The Equality
Authority, www.equality.ie
Pictured above are the first students who completed the Certificate in Civil Service and State Agencies
Studies. This is a NUI accredited programme run by the Institute of Public Administration that considers the
challenges, innovations and developments currently facing the civil service and state agencies, and provides
a framework for understanding the wider process of governing in contemporary Ireland. The next Certificate
commences in October 2006. See www.ipa.ie for further details.
8

Competition Time
The prize for the first correct entry drawn is an i-Pod
Nano, with two runners-up prizes of €100 and €50. So
get your entries to us by Monday, 27th March 2006. And
remember, you can now enter the competition online at
www.bettergov.ie
1. What date was the Business Regulation Forum established on?
2. How many projects will receive Public Service Excellence Awards?
3. CSTDC is relocating to which town under the decentralisation
programme?
4. Which former international was recently appointed manager of the
Irish senior soccer team?
5. What month was the CPMR Report on the Performance Verification
Process and Public Service Pay launched?
6. Where will the 2006 Public Service Excellence Awards be presented?
7. Who chairs the new Benchmarking Body?
8. The All Island Public Procurement Conference and Exhibition takes
place on what date?
9. What famous GAA stadium plans to host international soccer and
rugby fixtures in 2007?
10. How many Irish projects will participate in 4QC the 4th Quality
Conference for Public Administrations in the EU in Tampere, Finland?
ANSWERS
Send entries to LINK Competition, Public Service Modernisation Division, Department of the Taoiseach,
Government Buildings, Dublin 2, giving us your name and contact details.
NAME
ADDRESS
TELEPHONE
E-MAIL
Issue 42 Competition Results
The winner of the Competition in Issue 42 is Bernadette Kingston, Department of Social and Family Affairs.
Bernadette wins the first prize of an i-Pod Nano. Runners up prizes go to Nicola Broughall, Chief State
Solicitor’s Office, who wins €100 and to Marie Kinsella, Department of Health and Children, who wins €50.
Congratulations to all our winners.
A total of 877 entries were received for the LINK 42 Competition.
The answers are: 1. Red, 2. Sleigh, 3. Scotland, 4. 153, 5. Coca Cola, 6. Royal Hospital Kilmainham, 7. Boxing Day,
8. Ebenezer Scrooge, 9. New York, 10. 27 October 2005.
9

Improving Procurement
Procurement can play an important role
in achieving value for money in the
delivery of public services. Public
sector procurement may be
considered by public servants to be
about compliance with EU procurement
rules and tendering procedures. While compliance is
important, seeking better outcomes from
procurement effort is becoming a key component of
achieving value for money. The National Public
Procurement Policy Unit (NPPPU) in the
Department of Finance is responsible for policy in
this area.
The key policy document is the National Public
Procurement Policy Framework, which supports
the Unit’s programme of Procurement Management
Reform. Based on international best practice, the
Framework’s main goal is to support the
development of a more strategic and analysis-based
approach to procurement across the public service
that will deliver savings and better outcomes. The
Procurement Management Reform programme
consists of:
1 Capacity Building – to up-skill public
servants in the use of new procurement
planning techniques and put in place a
network of expertise across the public
service;
2 Training and Education – to underpin the
capacity building stream by developing a
suite of courses, including 3rd Level, that
will bring professional accreditation to
public procurement and support its longterm
development;
3 Aggregation – to explore opportunities to
realise cost savings through joint public
sector purchasing;
4 E-procurement – to underpin the
management reform programme with the
introduction of cost effective procurement
systems that will deliver additional
efficiencies through using ICTs.
The Framework also requires
Departments and Agencies to
develop Corporate Procurement
Plans that contain targets to
achieve savings and value for
money objectives and identify the
purchasing strategies to realise these. The
development of these plans is supported by the
NPPPU, which will continue to provide training for
middle managers on expenditure and organisational
analysis through 2006. These are the key skills in
the development of effective purchasing strategies
which aim to ensure that goods and services are
purchased at the right time, right price and for the
right purpose.
The NPPPU has launched a new software evaluation
tool, SUPREM (www.suprem.gov.ie), which has
been designed to help public sector organisations
develop their Corporate Procurement Plans.
Organisations can use this tool by registering with
the NPPPU.
Enhancing Procurement
Good procurement practices already exist in the
public service. The aim of the NPPPU is to build on
this good practice and bring a national focus to the
benefits of smarter procurement.
The Procurement Management Reform programme
will not only affect procurement officers and public
sector buyers; it will become a key part of
organisations’ business planning processes. In
countries that have developed their approach to
public procurement, it is at the centre of business
planning alongside Finance, HR and IT to ensure
that the organisation as a whole gets the most
from its spending commitments. Raising the profile
of procurement to such a level in public sector
organisations is a goal of the NPPPU and the
National Public Procurement Policy Framework.
As part of the drive to raise the profile of public
sector procurement, the NPPPU is jointly hosting
an all island procurement conference with its
Northern Ireland counterpart, the Central
Procurement Directorate and, InterTradeIreland
(across).
For further information, visit www.procurement.ie
10

Deepening Dialogue with Business
The provision by the Civil Service of quality policies
and legislation, is highly dependent on the depth
and quality of the analysis, research and
consultation that takes place in advance with other
Government Departments, interested public bodies,
state agencies and customer groups. Individually,
many Departments have long-established systems in
place to ensure that they can hold consultation
meetings with their regular customer groups to
discuss current issues of concern, or possible
developments under consideration.
The business community has well-established
mechanisms for consulting with Government
centrally in relation to pay or industrial relation
matters, and with key Departments, such as
Enterprise, Trade & Employment on specific matters
of concern. However, it has become apparent that
there is a need for greater and more focused
dialogue with business to address their concerns
regarding the amount of legislation and regulations
that they must comply with.
Following from an announcement by
the Taoiseach in July last year, a
Business Regulation Forum was
established on 2 November last by
the Minister for Enterprise, Trade &
Employment, Mr. Micheál Martin T.D.
This Forum comprises senior
business and public sector members,
and senior officials from the core
Departments who have most
dealings with the business
community - Enterprise, Trade &
Employment; Finance; Taoiseach;
Transport; and Communications,
Marine & Natural Resources.
The Forum’s main role will be to
examine and report to the Minister
on particular difficulties that are
being created for business as a
result of outdated, inefficient, or
disproportionate regulations or
administrative requirements. The
independent sectoral regulators,
such as the Communications
Regulator, the Telecommunications
Regulator, and the Financial
Regulator, will also meet with the
Forum from time to time.
The establishment of the Forum is
one more step being taken as part
of the Modernisation Agenda, to
ensure that all new policy or
legislative proposals are effective,
focused, and efficient.
11

Regulatory Impact Analysis Training
In the last edition of Link, we reported on a pilot
Training Course on Regulatory Impact
Analysis (RIA) which took place in
Farmleigh House in October. We are
happy to announce that an updated
version of that course is now being
run regularly as part of the Training
Programme run by the Civil Service
Training and Development Centre
(CSTDC), Department of Finance. This
Course (organised in conjunction
with the Better Regulation Unit)
was held in January and will take
place again in February, March and
May.
Expert Presenters
The Course is held over two consecutive days and
begins by setting RIA in a broader regulatory
context. It includes presentations by distinguished
external speakers such as Professor Frances Ruane
(TCD), John Sweeney (NESC) and Etain Doyle
(formerly Telecommunications Regulator and now a
Regulatory Consultant). They outline the
background and purpose of economic and social
regulation as well as the rationale behind the
creation of independent sectoral regulators.
Course Modules
A number of detailed modules then cover the
application of RIA, running through
the various steps involved in the Irish
RIA model. This includes a session on
analytical techniques and another on
the application of RIA to EU
regulations. The second day concludes
with a RIA Workshop where participants
get the chance to test their newly-honed
RIA skills by applying RIA to a specific
case.
Who Should Attend?
The Course is of relevance to officials
involved in regulation at national or EU
level. It should be of particular interest to
those currently involved in developing the General
Scheme of a Bill to which RIA must be applied.
There is already significant interest in the upcoming
courses so anyone interested in attending should
contact:
Róisín Wiseman, roisin.wiseman@finance.gov.ie or
Vivienne Graham, vivienne.graham@finance.gov.ie
in CSTDC as soon as possible.
Vivienne Graham, CSTDC, Róisín Wiseman, CSTDC and Mary-Clare O’Sullivan, Better Regulation Unit, Dept. of the Taoiseach
12
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