Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform and Taoiseach publishes Report on the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924;

Launching the report, Deputy John McGuinness, Cathaoirleach of the Finance Committee, said: “The relationship between Ministers and the most senior of Civil Servants, the Secretary General, is one which is constantly changing with the question of to whom Secretaries-General are responsible arising frequently.

“The Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924 is the main piece of legislation which governs this relationship. This almost 100-year-old Act sets out the role and status of Ministers with regard to their departments, their responsibility to Dáil Éireann and the role of Secretary General. A series of additional legislation and regulations provide further guidelines. However, there is no doubt but the legislation requires to be updated and modernised.”

The Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach, agreed in March 2022, to undertake an examination of the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924, with regard to the evolution of the Act and those responsible for ensuring its implementation. The Committee placed focus on the delegation of responsibility under the Act in the context of the Minister of the relevant Department having sole ultimate responsibility and whether there are any plans to amend the legislation to bring Secretaries-General and other senior civil and public servants under its remit.

The Committee held a series of public engagements throughout 2022 and 2023, meeting with senior officials and Ministers from the Departments of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, and Health. The Committee also invited and received a written submission from Professor Colin Scott, University College Dublin. and Professor Muris MacCarthaigh, Queen’s University Belfast, on the topic of the Minsters and Secretaries Act.

The key recommendations arising from these engagements and the Scott-MacCarthaigh submission made by the Joint Committee are:

• The Civil Service Accountability Board and the Performance Review Group both be re-established to review the performance management process for Secretaries General and oversight of such processes. Members of both groups should be independent of the Civil and Public Service;
• The Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform provide a report to the Joint Committee within six months on its initial plans and timeline to re-establish the Board;
• The Civil Service Accountability Board examine the performance review process for Secretaries-General with a view to recommending new guidelines. These guidelines should be forwarded to the Joint Committee for review;
• All Departments should immediately set out about accrediting IT systems of management to ensure the very best systems are available to monitor performance in areas such as finance, management, HR, etc. This system should be integrated across all Departments;
• An Independent Review Panel review the Senior Public Service Recruitment and Pay Process and that the review is provided to the Joint Committee and the Oireachtas;
• The introduction of a Secretary General who would have oversight of day-to-day administrative matters, as distinct from policy matters, with the Government maintaining political responsibility for the regulation and control of the Civil Service.

Deputy McGuinness said “Fundamentally, Ministers are responsible for the operation of their Departments under the Act. This entails a comprehensive level of accountability and responsibility. The role of Secretary General is particularly demanding, with those in office regularly charged with reconciling conflicting demands. However, there is an undeniable difference in the scrutiny experienced by Ministers in terms of the Oireachtas and the electorate when compared to administrative accountability.

“The Joint Committee set out to examine the Ministers and Secretaries Act with a view to assessing whether the current oversight process of Secretaries-General requires further consideration. It is clear that the role of the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Public Accounts Committee needs to be considerably enhanced and there is an urgent need for a Secretary General to oversee all Secretaries-General and Assistants. The power to hire or fire and impose sanctions must be vested in this person.”

In its examination, the Joint Committee also examined the proposed secondment of the former Chief Medical Officer to Trinity College Dublin. These meetings highlighted a series of difficulties in providing oversight including the complexity in assessing the role and responsibility of the Secretary General, a lack of effective process and procedures in secondment guidelines, and further difficulties experienced by the Joint Committee in examining the topic.

Deputy McGuinness said: “The Joint Committee welcomes and endorses the Report of the External Review of the Proposed Secondment of the Chief Medical Officer and urges the immediate implementation of its recommendations. The Department of Public Expenditure, NPD Delivery and Reform should report to the Joint Committee on the progress of implementing these recommendations within nine months.”

Deputy McGuinness added that the Committee would like to thank all those who provided the Committee with submissions and attended meetings for their input to the examination of this topic.

The Report on the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924 is available on the Oireachtas website.

The Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach has 14 Members, nine from the Dáil and five from the Seanad.