NOEL DEMPSEY, the transport minister, has called for a new system of warnings that would lead to the dismissal of under-performing public servants. He said it should be possible to sack public servants who are not doing a good job and to reward those who are.

Speaking at an economic workshop in Kenmare, Co Kerry, he said a “root and branch review” of state services was required. He added that a downside of more than a decade of prosperity was that people came to believe that “money solved everything”, but those solutions may not have been the best options available.

“Duplication and unnecessary bureaucracy inevitably often prevented what started out as a good intention not, in fact, delivering for the citizen,” the transport minister said.

“We need a root-and-branch review of all services to remove extra costs, duplications and barriers that are preventing the public from availing of the services to which they are entitled.”

However, he absolved the public service of any blame for the current financial crisis, despite “quite an amount of finger-pointing largely at the public sector”. He said it was not responsible for what is happening today “either here in Ireland or internationally in the banking sector”.

Nevertheless, the minister said that the emphasis in the public sector needed to change from activity to outcome.

“For too long we have focused on how many hours we’re going to put into [projects] and not enough on what the outcomes should be. Outcomes are what matter, not activities, not time spent. Outcomes are what should be measured, not processes. We are guilty of that within the public service.”

Dempsey also accused the public service of having “impermeable silos” that needed to be permeable and to permit “horizontal mobility”, allowing civil servants to switch jobs and gain experience.

Dempsey is the second minister to scold the public service in the space of a few weeks. Last month John McGuinness, a junior minister, also lambasted it.

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