Irish Labour Party : Government Gives Green Light to Major Shared Services Project - Howlin

15 January 2014

Statement by Brendan Howlin TD
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform

The Government has agreed to proceed to the next stage of a Financial Management Shared Services Project for the Civil Service, Defence and Justice sectors.

The initial scoping phase of the project has already been completed and it is estimated that sustainable savings in the region of €14.6 million, or over 30%, per annum could be achieved once a shared services solution has been fully implemented. The number of sites for this type of work would reduce from twenty currently, down to three.

A Financial Management Shared Services Centre would allow finance and accounting transactional activities such as invoice processing and preparation of month end accounts to be managed in a standardised, streamlined way. This will improve the quality and availability of management information for formulating plans and delivering services, and will improve our financial control.

A formal Request for Tenders has issued to support this next phase of work, which is expected to take about a year. The work will entail documenting the detailed finance business requirements, developing the technology design and redesigning a single chart of accounts. Once this next phase is completed, a further submission will be made to Government to proceed to full implementation.

Speaking at the launch of the Government's new Public Service Reform plan, 2014 to 2016, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin welcomed this important milestone.

"Shared Services is a key enabler in helping us to deliver better services to more people. It is crucial that we build capacity and flexibility into the way we currently operate and take advantage of the latest innovative technologies and methods for running back office service delivery. The emerging requirements of both the EU and IMF fiscal transparency and accrual accounting make an undeniable case for change."

Minister of State Hayes, who has special responsibility for Shared Services, also welcomed this important development. He stated, "A Financial Management Shared Services Centre will allow us to future proof our Financial Management system. It will improve the quality and availability of management information for formulating plans and decision making on services. It will drive performance and reduce costs."