Value for Money Reviews

The Value for Money and Policy Review Initiative is a systematic process of evaluation conducted by government departments and offices under the guidance of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. Its objectives are to analyse Exchequer spending in a systematic manner and to provide a basis on which more informed decisions can be made on priorities within and between programmes.

The Public Spending Code introduced a new method of review in the form of a Focused Policy Assessment (FPA). To optimise the effectiveness of the FPAs, it is intended that the overarching process will be flexible and not overly prescriptive, however it is envisaged that the FPAs:

• Operate under a clear mandate from the relevant official with responsibility for Programme area and the Head of CEEU.
• Are conducted by a Department’s evaluation unit and / or by an evaluator from CEEU. Ideally there should be no more than one or two evaluators.
• Have tightly framed terms of reference focusing on the key issue at hand.
• Do not require a steering committee; the responsibility of the evaluation should be under the management of the head of the departmental evaluation unit or the head of CEEU, as appropriate.
• Are completed within tight timeframes, 3 months as a rule.
• Are routinely published on https://publicspendingcode.per.gov.ie/ subject to any necessary redactions arising under FOI legislation. Redactions should be kept to the minimum necessary and a justification for redactions should be published with the document.

The outcomes of the reviews and assessments input into ongoing policy development and inform decision making within the relevant areas of the Department.

The Department of Education and Skills has agreed a Value for Money Programme with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for the period 2015-2017 and is working to complete the programme.

The Value for Money Review process is centrally co-ordinated by the Central Policy Unit, while the reviews themselves are carried out by Central Policy Unit and the relevant line section.

Reviews completed are available here.