Debate contribution: Northern Ireland Civil Service: Reform

Debate contribution by Miss Deirdre Hargey on 3 February 2026.

MLA

Miss Deirdre Hargey

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

3 February 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Northern Ireland Civil Service: Reform

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5363097

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank the Members who tabled the motion. Sinn Féin will support the motion, because it is right that the Assembly engages seriously on the pressures facing the Civil Service and our public services more generally. However, our support is not uncritical, and it is not a blank cheque. Any reform must be rooted in better outcomes in delivering public services, fairness to workers and honesty about the financial and demand constraints under which all Departments are operating. The Audit Office report reflects what civil servants have been experiencing for many years: a system under sustained strain from workforce pressures, structural weaknesses and chronic financial instability and underfunding. Yet, throughout the period, civil servants have continued to deliver essential public services, including through the pandemic and other societal shocks that we have seen such as Brexit and as far back as the financial crash in 2008. That has especially been the case for our workers on lower pay scales who are often at the front line and coalface of delivering services.

They deserve our recognition and respect and, of course, should not be blamed. We fully recognise the dedication and professionalism of civil servants across the North. Reform must never become code for job losses, eroding terms and conditions or shifting responsibilities on to workers for failures that sit elsewhere. If change is to succeed, it must support workers, not punish them.

Sinn Féin agrees that change is necessary, but change must mean improvement, not austerity by another name. It must focus on smarter workforce planning, on skills development and on reducing inefficiency, but, importantly, while protecting staff, it must also enhance the quality of our public services and deliver real and improved outcomes for our people and our communities. Work has already started in the Department, and there has been a clear effort to lead by example as an employer. Under Conor Murphy, steps were taken to tackle over-reliance on agency staffing and to extend sick pay to agency workers, thus addressing a long-standing injustice. That approach has continued under this Minister, who has a focus on long-term workforce planning, the living wage principles and improved workplace well-being. Those are reforms that strengthen the Civil Service rather than weaken it. Reform cannot be separated from the wider funding context, however. Indeed, the British Government's failure to provide sustainable funding continues to undermine effective workforce planning. The need for proper funding for public services here is an area on which the House unites. We know that expecting transformation under those conditions is unrealistic and unfair, so we must all redouble our efforts to look at achieving a fair funding model. The Finance Minister has also produced the first three-year Budget in almost a decade. That also allows for better and longer-term planning. The Audit Office report points to progress that is being made on the enhanced governance work, on the new people strategy and through apprenticeship and work placement programmes, which the Audit Office highlighted. Any time-bound plan for reform must therefore be developed in genuine partnership with workers and trade unions, address the drivers of agency resilience and be underpinned by fair funding. Reform must also be about having better systems and, of course, better leadership. On the issue of leadership, it is important to state that this is not just an issue for the Finance Minister. That may not be to what the Member was alluding, but the Audit Office report highlights the need for sustained collective leadership. That means all Ministers in the Executive pulling together as one team and all the civil servants in the senior management team providing leadership across the Civil Service, both downwards and upwards. Achieving reform must also involve Members across the Assembly. In the spirit of collective leadership, we will support the motion, because reform must strengthen our public services, respect and support the workers who deliver them and, importantly, confront the funding failures in the way in which the Executive are funded now and into the future.

667 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:30 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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