Fine Gael and Labour ministers would be faced with stiff spending targets or else face sanctions, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has said.
Nearly €8 billion, or approximately €5,000 per family in the State, has been wasted by Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats, according to a FG/Labour document, The Buck Stops Here.
Mr Kenny and Labour leader Pat Rabbitte roundly criticised the Government's spending management record. "We will set ministers high-level targets and we will hold them accountable to reach those targets," Mr Kenny said at the launch of the document.
Under the FG/Labour plan, the Government's budget and spending estimates would be prepared months earlier than now and subject to much greater scrutiny by the Oireachtas. A strategic reserve fund would hold 2 per cent of State spending every year for special projects, such as improving A&E services, where value for money and reforms can be guaranteed before money is spent.
"There is one overriding message that I want to get out: that in an alternative government there will be no doubt where the buck stops. We will ensure that projects will not commence if they don't measure up; that corrective action will be taken if problems arise and that there is clarity about who is responsible," said Mr Kenny.
Ministers would no longer be made responsible for every action carried out by their departments, often made without their knowledge.
"It is a nonsense to pretend that a minister can be responsible for everything. A minister can't be responsible for everything, but a minister ought to be responsible for policy, for the setting of targets, the supervision of targets, the questioning of targets," said the Labour leader.
"Ministers can dodge responsibility for big decisions, particularly big decisions that go wrong .
"Everyone is responsible for everything and nobody is accountable for anything," he said, alleging that this "suited" both Fianna Fáil and the Civil Service.
Top civil servants should be given clearly delegated powers and then made personally accountable to the Oireachtas, while those who fail to discharge their duties responsibly would be denied bonus payments, and face the loss of annual increments - though neither Mr Kenny nor Mr Rabbitte envisaged a situation where civil servants would their jobs for poor performance.
Civil servants should equally have to keep clear records of ministerial decisions and notify ministers of any decision taken in their name.
Major spending projects should be subject to much tougher advance examination, while a system of "traffic lights" should be put in place to offer early warning that plans are going awry.
The taoiseach and the tánaiste should have a much greater hands-on role in supervising the spending estimates.
"The existing system of programme evaluation has all but disintegrated. There is insufficient flexibility to divert resources to meet emerging needs, and to ensure that money flows to areas where results are being achieved."
A larger number of top jobs in the Civil Service should go to people from the private sector, Fine Gael and Labour have agreed. While Ireland has been well served by its public servants, there are noticeable gaps in the skills base. And the system of recruiting senior managers is no longer appropriate to modern needs.
"Project management is inadequate, there is no proper system of identifying why projects go wrong and ministerial pet projects are afforded priority," said the 50-page document.
Government's record: according to FG & Labour
- Media Lab Europe...€35.5m wasted
- The Punchestown Equestrian Centre...14.8m over budget
- The refurbishment of Cork City's courthouse...25.35m over budget
- E-voting...€52m spent, while system lies unused
- Unused accommodation for asylum seekers...18.9m spent
- The PPARs computer system...160m spent
- Compensation for people abused in religious institutions.....Spending is over twice the original estimates
- Over-70s medical cards...€60m a year more is needed to fund it
- Stadium Campus Ireland...€99.5m
- Luas...€471m over budget
- Dublin Port Tunnel...€350m
- National roads programme...€3.25 billion over budget
