PUBLIC SERVICE reform on the scale and level of complexity being sought by the Government cannot simply be imposed on an unwilling workforce of 300,000 people, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin has said.

Speaking at the Institute of Public Administration conference yesterday he said that the “buy-in” of staff at all levels across the public service was required if the process was to work.

The Minister said that without reform, the public service will simply not be able to function in the future.

“The low-hanging fruit has long disappeared and we now face quite stark policy choices. Resources will be squeezed further and staff numbers will fall, with significant departures expected in the coming months.

“Yet our responsibilities to the citizens we serve remain the same and the demand for the services we provide has never been greater. That is why delaying further reform is not an option.”

The Minister said that a promising start had been made in implementing the Croke Park agreement on public service pay and reform but that the greatest challenge for the deal lay ahead.

Mr Howlin said that the implementation of the agreement in the various sectors of the public service would have to be accelerated.

He said he was aware that the burden of reductions in expenditure and staff numbers was being acutely felt by personnel across the public service.

He said he wished that further cuts were avoidable but that the harsh reality was that they were not.

The Minister said his department was currently finalising a new overall public service reform implementation plan which would be submitted to the Cabinet sub-committee on public service reform in the coming weeks.