PUBLIC SERVICE REFORM: REBALANCING and

RENEWAL

The case for

proportionality in

achieving citizen-focused

quality public services.

Catherine Murphy T.D.

A Position on

Public Sector

Reform

REBALANCING and RENEWAL

THE CASE FOR PROPORTIONALITY IN ACHIEVING CITIZEN-FOCUSED

QUALITY PUBLIC SERVICES

A Position on Public Sector Reform - CATHERINE MURPHY T.D.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In this position paper I seek to establish a clear case for reform of the manner in which the State

distributes exchequer funding to public services by demonstrating, through three select

examples, that the current distribution pattern disproportionately favours areas with

historically significant population levels rather than areas with current and projected high-

growth patterns.

INTRODUCTION

Having seen the lofty heights reached by Ireland Inc. recent decades, there is no doubt of our

ability to innovate for the achievement of pronounced financial and social success. Regrettably,

the people of Ireland are now becoming all too familiar with the ill-effects of our failure to build

a more sustainable model of success - but, if the harsh lessons of the recently catastrophic

economic meltdown are to yield any positive result, this moment in our history must be seized

upon to break free from the traditional pit-falls and strike for a truly revolutionary approach to

public administration.

Given the prolonged period of austerity we are living through, it is no longer good enough to

herald blunt surface-level cuts such as public sector recruitment moratoriums, pay-reductions

and education cutbacks as viable solutions to the current crisis facing the public purse. Such

blanket cutting fails outright to address the real reasons as to why our public sector is at such an

extreme level of unequal delivery.

A full system overhaul is demanded if we are to eliminate the pervasively institutionalised

inequalities and inefficiencies endemic to the current system of public administration. Indeed,

it’s essential that we ask ourselves that, in the absence of high-level institutional reform, how

can public sector employees be facilitated in striving for cost-effectiveness if the inherent

inefficiencies of the sector are not addressed.

It’s clear that this is a far easier assertion to make than to realise – what I propose is not a quick-

fix and nor is it intended to be. Truly reshaping what our public sector is and who it is focused

at serving is a job that will require time. However, if done correctly, it can yield lasting results

that will serve as a strong foundation on which the future of our State can be securely built.

THE PRESENT DILEMMA

The population of Ireland continues to grow1 and the country’s economic performance shows

promise of recovery but overall remains still poor; thus we face insufficient tax yields as

compared to public expenditure2. Public sector employment levels are in decline due in large

part to the moratorium on recruitment and promotions and continued levels of “natural

wastage” but these levels are across the board and not in any way targeted leading to resource

inequities throughout the system3. Public sector funding reductions are set to continue in line

with the State’s commitments under the EU/IMF Programme for Ireland and with these

reductions comes restraint on the operational capabilities of this sector4; furthermore, with

growing levels of dependency on social welfare due to a consistently shrinking, or at best

stagnant labour force, pressure on publically funded services is on the rise5.

With problems as multifaceted as these, it is simply unrealistic to think that funding and staffing

cuts will achieve the required range of savings without having a detrimental effect on policing,

schooling, healthcare and public services generally. Crucially, it is the absence of nuanced and

detailed demographic considerations in implementing savings which will ultimately cause most

damage in terms of the rollback of essential public services. Now is the time to consider what

levels of service are required by our growing population and to adopt a creative approach to

achieving that aim.

HISTORIC ENTRENCHMENT TRUMPS FORWARD-LOOKING IDEALS

If we look at the manner in which public resources and funding are distributed throughout the

State from one Local Authority to another, the level of imbalance concerned is clear to see.

Indeed our local authority and county structure can, for the purposes of analysis, provide an

interesting set of microcosms that display the class of imbalance that exists throughout our

national structures.

These microcosms highlight the very worrying tendency among Government Departments to

work on historic trends of demand as opposed to projections of future growth or decline when

planning services. Thus, our public sector institutions plan for the past as opposed to the future

and we receive an equally backward overall result.

1 (Central Statistics Office Ireland, 2011) 2 (Department of Finance, 2011) 3 (Department of Finance, 2009) 4 (Department of Finance, 2010)

5 (The Central Statistics Office Ireland, 2011)

Counties such as Kildare, Meath, Louth and Wicklow, which have seen rapid population growth

due in large part to their location within the expansive hinterland of Dublin City, have not been

on the receiving end of resources nor funding that is in line with their persistent levels of

growth6. These counties illustrate thoroughly the lack of responsiveness in the overall culture

of our current system of public administration to departures from historic population trends

and, in analysing various levels of funding and resource provision against population levels,

clear examples of systemic deficiencies emerge.

6 (Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, 2010)

POPULATION GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT PATTERNS

ESTABLISHED GROWTH TRENDS

While the level of population growth and increase in residential property construction

seen over the past two decades undoubtedly made a dramatic impact on Irish society,

many of those counties that experienced very conspicuous levels of growth during the

Celtic Tiger boom era were simply experiencing highly pronounced versions of existing

growth patterns as opposed to newly emerging trends. Indeed, it may further be

suggested that had these growth trends been heeded the prospect of futher overspill

into even more peripheral counties could have been predicted and prevented.

The Irish pattern of population growth displays a worryingly simple trend linked

heavily with the principles of supply and demand. During times of population growth,

Irish cities have become oversubscribed and, as a result, unaffordable to many. Thus

those seeking out a supply of more abundant and therefore affordable accommodation

have migrated to the areas immediately surrounding these cities. Over time, the same

problem of ever-reducing supply coupled with continually increased demand has forced

migrations to locations even further afield from our cities. This trend is therefore more

accurately termed a population splurge than a population surge.

-10.00%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

May

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Tip

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% Change1981 to 1991

% Change1991 - 2002

% Change2002 - 2011

KILDARE – THE CONSISTENT GROWTH MODEL

Kildare is a county that has experienced demonstrably persistent and yet also rapid

population growth since the early 1970s. According to CSO figures7, the population of

this county rested somewhat steadily between a maximum of 83,614 persons in 1871

and a minimum of 57,892 persons in 1936. Never in the space of a century did the

population of this county rise above levels reached in 1871, and yet once the historic

upper-levels of population were breached a new growth pattern took effect which has

seen a population increase of 192%, or137,978 persons, over the course of only four

decades.

Population growth in Kildare throughout the latter half of the 21st Century has therefore

been both consistent and predictable and it has represented a marked contrast to the

low and negative levels of growth in seen in the neighbouring Dublin City. Kildare’s

growth can largely be attributed to population overspill from a city that has been

typified by low density urban development and a laissez faire appraoch to urban

planning that allowed a prohibitively priced property market to emerge, thereby forcing

many would-be city dwellers outward towards the surrounding “dormitory counties”8.

With such an established trend of urban population overspill, it stands to reason that

continued population increase in the absence of any significant policy change would

lead to more of the same.

7 (Central Statistics Office Ireland, 1982, 1992, 2003, 2011)

8 census 1991

0 50000 100000 150000 200000 250000

1871

1881

1891

1901

1911

1926

1936

1946

1951

1961

1971

1981

1991

2002

2011

83614

75804

70206

63566

66627

58028

57892

64849

66437

64420

71977

104122

122656

163944

209955

Kildare Population Census Year

LAOIS – THE PREDICTABLE LATE ARRIVAL

With a population surge of 20% between 2006 and 20119, County Laois clearly

demonstrates the outer limits reached by those seeking property within a commutable

distance to Dublin during the final phase of Celtic Tiger-led population dispersal.

Unsurprisingly, with figures such as this Laois emerges as Ireland’s most rapidly

growing county. Alas, this growth brings with it the ominous honour of having an

equally high-ranking level of unoccupied and or incomplete dwellings per capita, one

for every 20 persons in the county10.

Whereas those counties which saw the majority of their residential housing

development occur in advance of and througout the Celtic Tiger era, the ones which

came late to the party to cater for the needs of those pushed further from the cities were

stopped in their tracks. And the stark picture that is the multitudes of halted

developments throughout the counties such as Laois not only sums up their situation

only too aptly but also serves to frame the cause of the problem: a system that is frozen

in time.

9 (Central Statistics Office of Ireland, 2011)

10 (Department of Environment, Community & Local Government, 2010)

LOCAL AUTHORITY STAFFING11

Due to the current moratorium on public service recruitment and promotions, public sector

staffing in general has itself become frozen and an obvious area where members of the public

are experiencing end-user difficulties as a result of this is on Local Authority Staffing levels. Put

simply, if the staffing is not available to perform the function the availability of funding becomes

largely irrelevant.

When we look at 2010 levels of staffing in Kildare County Council we see that there were 925.4

whole time equivalent members of staff to serve a population of 209,955. And, where

staffing levels are analysed against population numbers, this county displays the second lowest

ratio of staff to population in 2009 and third lowest ratio of staff to population in 2010 whereby

each staff member served the needs of 226.88 Kildare residents.

To put this figure in context, the national staff member to resident ratio is 1 staff

member for every 152 residents meaning that Local Authority Staff employed by

Kildare County Council are, on average, responsible for 81 more residents than the

national average.

11

Figures supplied by the Department of the Environment, (Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (Mr. P. Hogan), 2011)

% Variation from Average Local

Authority per capita Staffing

Levels 2010

(Average 152.09)

Furthermore, where we compare Kildare with Mayo, a county that resides at the

opposite end of the staffing scale and is not without a sizeable population - 130,552

persons -, the disparities in staffing levels are truly exposed. As previously mentioned,

Kildare County Council has, according to 2010 levels, 925.4 staff members as compared

with Mayo County Councils 1103.65 members of staff. Again we see a situation

whereby a county with a population exceeding another receives fewer resources.

Mayo County Council’s staff members therefore are responsible for 18.83% fewer

residents than the national average; but when compared with Kildare we see that the

staff members of this local authority have a responsibility to 72.52% fewer residents

than each staff member working for Kildare County Council. More stark still is the

comparison between Mayo County Council and the persistently understaffed Meath

County Council. Here, at a staggering 88.82% above average in ratio of staff to

residents, Meath County Council staff members are responsible for 107.65% more

residents than their Mayo counterparts.

When considered on an everyday operations level such blatant heights of staffing

disparity are, particularly in light of the blanket moratorium on public sector

recruitment, absurd at best and truly chilling at worst. Without the staff to administer

the functions of the local authority it is the goods and services intended to be delivered

to their tax-paying clients that suffer first. Gone is the ability of the existing staff to

perform basic duties such as answering phone queries or processing urgent

applications for Housing Adaptation Grants or Planning Permission. And if these

workers are forced to run simply to stand still then what hope is there for the prospect

of pro-active and forward thinking service development?

GARDA NUMBERS

An Gardaí Síochána have been subject to the same recruitment and promotions

moratorium as other State institutions, and the final class of new Garda Recruits

graduated from the Garda Training College in Templemore in June 2011. With older

members of the force retiring on the other end of the spectrum, an already

overstretched police force is being pushed to breaking point.

Given the current constraints on resources it is understandable that those in charge of

the various Garda divisions would see it not only as prudent but as downright essential

to stringently resist any effort to remove and redistribute staff members in order to

create greater parity throughout the country. Nonetheless, where Garda divisions are

subject to general staffing constraints in tandem with having to cater for a rapidly

growing and evolving population base the absence of a broad strategy on Garda

allocations creates a system that rewards those in areas of decline and punishes those in

areas of expansion.

The Kildare Garda Division as of September 2010 contained 328 Gardaí serving a

population of 209,955 - in other words each Garda in Kildare is responsible for the

safety of 640 people. To put this in context, nationally An Gardaí Síochána were 12,539

strong as of September 2010 and are responsible for the security & safety of 4,700,091

people - this equates to an average per capita representation ratio of 1:379. Each

Population Per Garda, 374.84

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Po

pu

lati

on

Pe

r G

ard

a

Ratio of Gardaí to Population By Garda Division

Kildare Garda is therefore responsible for an extra 261 people, or 68.86% above the

national average.

Now compare those figures with the level of responsibility for Gardaí in the Sligo /

Leitrim division who have a force of 331 to cater for a population of 97,048 people

putting them 81.64 persons, or -21.78%, per Garda below the national average.

Coincidentally the populations of Sligo and Leitrim have, since 1981 grown by only

17.66% and 15.10% respectively, 16.81% combined and by a total of 13,965 persons

over the course of the past 31 years as compared to the 101.64% population explosion

seen in Kildare over the same timeframe.

Of course, a natural variance in Garda numbers is to be expected when differential crime

rates by locality are taken into account. When we examine the recently available figures

outlining the regional breakdown of households which experienced some crime, these

statistics alone cannot account for the variance in resourced identified12. Indeed it can

seem counter-intuitive, given the higher number of crimes reported by householders in

the midlands, and the apparent lack of resources present on a per capita basis (see chart

overleaf) in those counties.

The question that is begging to be asked is thus: when geographical crime statistics are

discounted, what rationale there can possibly be to explain why a county with a

population of 209,955 has 328 Gardaí to service its needs while two counties with a

combined population of 97,048 has a Garda force numbering 331?

12

(Central Statistics Office of Ireland, 2011)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

% Households which experienced any type of crime, 2010

-30.00%

-20.00%

-10.00%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

Percentage of Variance from National Per Capita Levels of Garda Resourcing

LOCAL AUTHORITY FUNDING

“In terms of local government finance, the Department is focused on the financial well-

being and effective financial management and accountability of local authorities and the

promotion of value for money principles in the sector.”13

The Department of Environment, Community & Local Government is the Government

Department charged with overall funding and organisational administration of Local

Authorities throughout the country. Motor Tax Receipts along with an annual amount

of Exchequer funding is placed into this central fund and distributed “for the purposes of

general discretionary funding of their day-to-day activities and for non-national roads,

and funding for certain local government initiatives.”14

This is by no means the only source of funding for Local Authorities - indeed according

to an Oireachtas Report15 on Local Government Funding the General Purpose Grant

makes up only 19% of Local Government Funding on average. The other 81% of

funding is comprised of revenue derived from Commercial Rates (28%), Goods &

Services (28%) and Government Grants & Subsidies (25%). With the exception of the

latter, the levels of these categories of funding cannot be fully controlled by central or

local government as the level of intake is largely market-driven, therefore the General

Purpose Grants distributed from the LGF are a positive means of assessing Local

Government Funding.

Although it is understandable that these grants are in some way used to even out the

funding inequities that develop as result of the inability of some Local Authorities to

raise funding through Commercial Rates and Goods and Services Provision, there is a

certain point at which this equalization process becomes somewhat disadvantageous to

those authorities that are seen to be less dependent on the General Purpose Grant. The

increased pressure on services presented in Local Authority areas that have higher

levels of population and commercial activity cannot be discounted in the governmental

funding process as to do so ensures the areas generating income through their own

activities are in fact almost punished for that productivity.

A certain element of minimum service level provision must be the basis of General

Purpose Grant allocations, arguably the generation of Commercial Rates and income

from Goods & Services within a local authority area serves as a source of income that

sustains this activity and provides additional revenue to improve on basic services. If

inequities in the ability of Local Authorities to raise such funds are to be entirely evened

13 (Department of Environment, Community & Local Government) 14

(Department of Environment, Community & Local Government) 15

(Oireachtas Library & Research Service, 2010)

out through a targeted allocation of the General Purpose Grants, the question must be

asked: what incentive is there to exert efforts towards generating local revenue by other

means when the only reward is a downward adjustment in central funding?

Again Kildare provides a strong illustrative example of this point. When the annual

accounts for this Local Authority are viewed the general make-up of its budget roughly

reflects that of the proportions set out in Figure 1 below as sourced from a 2010

Oireachtas Library & Research Service report on Local Government16.

Figure 1 - Breakdown of Local Government budgets by income stream (National Average)17

Kildare County Council’s 2009 budget is broken down by income stream in Figure 2. As

can be seen, the general breakdown by category is broadly similar to that provided for

in Figure 1.

Figure 2 - Kildare County Council Annual Income 200918

16

Ibid. 17

(Oireachtas Library & Research Service, 2010)

State Grants and Subsidies

22%

Contributions from other

LAs 2%

Goods and Services

29% Local

Government Fund -

General Purpose Grant

17%

Pension Levy 1%

Rates 27%

County Charge (Inc) 2%

KCC Budget 2009

NATIONAL SCHOOL CLASS SIZES

The latest Department of Education statistics as they relate to class size are equally

reflective of the public sector trend of penalising areas of growth while rewarding areas

of decline. Indeed the fundamental means by which the need for additional staff and

facilities is assessed by the Department of Education reflects this without any need for

recourse to pupil, teacher, class size and the various other statistics at hand. Simply put,

instead of using birth statistics and projections of population growth to predict the

likely increases in demand on school places to bring new school buildings and teaching

staff on stream in tandem with growth, the Department of Education’s policy is that it

will not assign additional resources or staff until the need is demonstrated through the

number of pupils already enrolled in the school.

As a direct result of this bizarre policy, the staff and management of schools around the

country are prevented from pro-actively tackling increased demand until it literally

arrives on their doorstep. Furthermore, this fundamental error in strategy on the part

of Departmental managers means that schools in areas of growth are forced to work

with persistent, endemic overcrowding and under-resourcing until such time as growth

arrests, perhaps decline begins and everyone can breath a sigh of relief. Yes, there will

of course be times where population predictions are somewhat inaccurate but in areas

that have seen consistent and rapid population growth, investing in the likelihood of

continued growth is not exactly Russian Roulette.

Proof of the folly that this Departmental policy represents is very telling in the year on

year statistics published by the Department of Education itself which clearly

demonstrate that the highest class numbers exist in the areas of population growth

while those counties that have a relatively stable or declining population fare better.

The same counties as have been shown to dominate the top and bottom levels of each

category of analysis here emerge again. Indeed when we consider the counties, which,

according to the Census of Population 2011 Preliminary Report, have grown by the

largest amounts between 2006 and 2011 it is not surprising to see them feature among

the largest class sizes in the country.

Fingal’s population grew by 13.8% during this period and averages class sizes that are

10.54% above the national average; Kildare’s population grew by 12.7% and boasts

class sizes which are 8.74% above the national average; and of course we should not

forget Meath which, having grown in population by 13% between 2006 and 2011, finds

itself with class sizes that are, on average, 10.56% above the national average thereby

winning the unwelcome title of county with the largest class sizes in the country.

18

(Kildare County Council, 2010)

These counties have two things in common, not only do they have large existing

populations but their rate of growth is significant and, in the absence of pro-active

school development that works to provide suitable school capacity in line with growth,

the delay between proving additional need and receiving the required resources from

the Department of Education & Skills is inordinately and unnecessarily protracted.

Now we turn our attention towards the opposite end of the scale and see that Mayo,

Roscommon and Leitrim feature with 12.45%, 9.08%, 8.52% students below the

national average class size respectively. Mayo, although a county with a sizeable

population - 130,552 as of April 201119 - has experienced only moderate growth of

5.42% since 2006. The impact of this steady growth is that the level of new students in

the county has caused a gradual upward trend as opposed to the spike in demand for

resources seen in more rapidly growing areas.

Interestingly enough Leitrim and Roscommon, the two counties that experienced the

lowest real levels of population growth nationally, boast class sizes which are 8.52%

and 9.08% respectively below the national average in class size levels. While both

counties grew by relatively sizeable percentages proportionately between 2006 and

2011, i.e. 9.8% and 8.7% respectively, their low general levels of population, (Leitrim -

31,778 persons & Roscommon - 63,898 persons) are perhaps a factor in their being able

to absorb such relative growth and remain below the national average where class sizes

are concerned.

19

(Central Statistics Office Ireland, 2011)

-15.00%

-10.00%

-5.00%

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

Mea

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% Variance in class sizes by County

National school class sizes however cannot be discussed in the absence of data relating

to birth rates given that the level of births in a county will have a direct effect on the

demand for school resources. And, when we look at the six counties at the top and

bottom levels of the class size scale we can see that levels of birth rate seem to follow a

distinct pattern, particularly at the high end of the scale where classes are

oversubscribed.

With birth rates of 25.45%, 21.21% and 18.79% above the national average

respectively, Fingal, Meath and Kildare have the highest rates of fertility in the country.

Understandably enough, when such rates of growth are combined with the Department

of Education & Skills’ system of requiring schools to prove existing as opposed to future

need before resources may be provided, these counties have the largest class sizes in

the country. The needs of these counties and those with similar growth patterns could

have been predicted in advance of children arriving at the school gates however the

very system that is used to assess need works against such action.

Meanwhile Roscommon, one of the counties with the smallest class sizes in the country,

has a birth rate which is decidedly lower than the national average – almost 16%. Of all

three select examples cited in this study, these findings perhaps most effectively

illustrate the central point about the consequences of insufficient forward planning

when it comes to making provision for public services.

-25.00%

-20.00%

-15.00%

-10.00%

-5.00%

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

Fin

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Birth Rate by County (2009)

CONCLUSION

While this study is brief and is by no means exhaustive, it clearly demonstrates the trend

which exists in the provision of public services around the country.

The massive exchequer crisis which hit Ireland in 2008 was met with an equally drastic

programme of austerity. And as debate has focused since then almost exclusively on the

precise levels of austerity required, the wider genius of blanket, blunt and utilitarian

cutting without respect to demographic variance has received comparatively little

scrutiny. Indeed, it has seemed at times that the realisation that we are in an extended

period of austerity, rather than a short, nasty economic shock, has come very slow to

government, opposition and the wider public alike.

If we are to endure an extended period of fiscal readjustment, of perhaps up to a decade,

it is essential that the case be made to make that readjustment in the best possible

interests of the people. While the adjustments made to date have no doubt been felt

keenly, particularly where cuts are regressive, by being forced to address public service

spending at all levels we are presented with a rare opportunity to rebalance exchequer

spending, usher in an age of greater efficiency, and ultimately break the cycle of

continually working to satisfy the needs of the past as opposed to the future.

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