5.3 Corporate Governance
5.3 Corporate Governance As a service provider to the Civil and Public Service, the NSSO’s clients rely on it for essential transactional HR, pension and payroll services. As a result, they also rely on the NSSO’s system of governance and controls to process transactions that account for a significant share of their spending.
In 2021 these building audits had a strong emphasis on assessing the COVID-19 protection measures in place in all locations. A trained ergonomics assessor was on site to assist staff members working in the office with advice on the ergonomic set up of their work stations.
Audit and Assurance External Audit
The NSSO’s annual Appropriation Account is audited by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG). As in prior years, a clean unqualified audit report for the 2021 Appropriation Account was received from the C&AG in 2021.
v. Ergonomic Assessments While the introduction of remote working for NSSO staff on a large scale was initially a response to the onset of the COVID-19 emergency, the duration of the pandemic and the introduction of blended working options post-pandemic meant that working remotely as well as on-site will continue.
Internal Audit
The NSSO’s Internal Audit function provides independent assurance that the NSSO’s risk-management, corporate governance and internal control processes are fit for purpose.
In 2021 the NSSO’s internal audit unit completed its annual risk-based internal audit
Whether staff are working remotely or in the workplace, the NSSO recognises
8 Occupational Health & Safety Policy Statement, Occupational Health & Safety Manual 9 Workplace Safety and Health Management
National Shared Services Office (NSSO)
i. Risk Management The NSSO operates in accordance with DPER Risk Management Guidance for Government Departments and Offices
work programme. Unqualified Type II ISAE 3402 reports were once again received for both HR Services and Payroll Services during 2021. In addition, and despite COVID-19, a full programme of internal audits was performed in line with the Internal Audit plan.
10, which provides guidance on current good practice, to support the Office with embedding risk management within the culture of the organisation and to reaffirm the benefits of effective risk management.
Training on risk and governance was provided across the business to all staff on a virtual basis throughout the year. Internal Audit also responded throughout the year to the increased risk of fraud arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. Daily scanning of various horizons for potential fraud risks was introduced as the scale of emerging risks was noted. Internal Audit issued nearly 100 fraud and scam alerts to the business in 2021.
The top three risks identified during 2021 are listed below. These risks were closely monitored by the Management Board, Advisory Board and Audit and Risk Committee and measures were in place to mitigate these risks.
| Risk Measures to Mitigate Risk | |
|---|---|
| Delivery of New Financial Management Shared Services System | • This risk has reduced since remobilising the programme, with robust programme management, and the procurement of a Client Service Partner. This has addressed the technical capability gaps. A detailed project plan was also put in place with the System Implementer. • Since the restart of the project there is strong governance and oversight of risks in place. |
| Obsolescence risk for legacy HRSS technology | • Business Case to upgrade PeopleSof tHR software was made to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the programme commenced in 2021. |
| Cyber Security Risk | • All staf fworking remotely have a secure connection to government networks. • Constant vigilance through a programme of mandatory staf ftraining and awareness on cyber fraud risks. • Following an independent review of the Enterprise ICT function a business case for investment to expand the technical skills and capabilities the NSSO needs was approved by the Management Board in 2021. |
10 DPER Risk Management Guidance for Government Departments and Offices
Annual Report 2021
ii. Business Continuity Planning In 2021, the NSSO’s Business Continuity Plan was significantly enhanced and developed by devising detailed arrangements to continue operations if our systems were impacted by cyber-attacks or where buildings became inaccessible due to a fire or other disasters. The plan identifies the key processes that must continue, the teams and people needed to transact these processes and the equipment needed to do this without access to IT platforms or buildings.
Business continuity planning
and preparations enabled the
NSSO to continue to provide
full services with over 90%
of staff working remotely,
Business continuity planning and preparations allowed the NSSO to continue to provide full services with over 90% of staff working remotely, without any interruption to core services. In addition cyber readiness activities continued throughout 2021, including a desktop business continuity exercise in quarter four. Senior Managers held meetings with HSE payroll management to learn and gain insights from the HSE ransomware cyberattack.
without any interruption to
core services.
In October 2021 the NSSO launched a Fraud and Cyber Security Campaign, as part of Cyber Security Month to raise awareness among NSSO customers and staff of the variety of cyber threats and fraud risks they need to be vigilant for to prevent cyber fraud.
iii. Cyber Security The NSSO Senior Management Team actively monitors the risk posed to the NSSO by cyberattacks and other forms of fraud.
iv. Fraud Policy and Updates The NSSO’s Fraud Policy
11 makes staff aware of the risk of fraud and of the signs that fraud may be taking place. A second line of defence was strengthened in 2021 with the establishment the Fraud Prevention team in December 2021 with the specific aim to build awareness and education of the threat of fraud among staff members, and to support first-line anti-fraud measures.
During 2021, the NSSO implemented a programme of actions to:
• ensure that the relevant staff have the information and skills they need to guard against social engineering attacks and the ever present risk of fraud;
There were no frauds reported in 2021.
• reviewed the Business Continuity Planning to ensure that it allows us to respond to a cyber-attack or external fraud attempt;
v. NSSO Protected Disclosure Policy The NSSO’s Protected Disclosure Policy
12 was adopted in March 2018. No such disclosures were made in 2021. The Management Board continued to promote the importance of this policy and provide education on ‘speaking-up’ within our organisation during 2021.
• incorporated suitable defence measures into the design and build of the Financial Management system; and,
• reviewed controls over payments and related financial information and bank accounts in Payroll Shared Services.
11 NSSO Fraud Policy 12 NSSO Protected Disclosure Policy
National Shared Services Office (NSSO)
vi. Boards and Committees The NSSO has a number of essential boards and committees to advise and support the business of the Office and they continued to function effectively during 2021. (See Appendix 2 for all members and details of when they met.)
during 2021 to provide a high level customer interface with the NSSO. The group’s focus continued to foster and enable a positive and progressive working relationship between the NSSO, the HR Managers Forum and Finance officials.
• FMSS Programme Board - met many times during 2021 to provide advice and support, and oversee key milestones in relation to the project. Members of the Programme Board are a cross representation of Assistant Secretaries from Government Departments.
• NSSO Advisory Board - supported the strategy, policy development, management of strategic risks, and essential Board level governance of the NSSO and supported the Chief Executive.
• NSSO Audit and Risk Committee – an independent Audit and Risk Committee provided advice and assurance to the Chief Executive of the NSSO, as its Accounting Officer.
• NSSO Management Board - the NSSO Management Board provided advice to and supported the Chief Executive in the strategic and financial management of the Office. This Board also provided leadership and strategic direction to the Office and operated in line with its terms of reference. The Board has a number of subcommittees to support it in its work – these are the Workforce Planning Group, Occupational Health and Safety Committee and Solutions Board and they continued to function effectively during 2021.
• Employee Services Strategy Committee - this Committee provided strategic advice and shared pertinent information to support of the future development and effective delivery of employee shared services. Its membership from across six Government Departments is at Assistant Secretary level and was chaired by the Head of HR for the Civil Service.
• Employees Services Customer Group (ESCG) - representing Principal Officers for their nominated alternates in HR and finance from across eight Government Departments, this group met many times
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Figure from page 41
National Shared Services Office (NSSO)
The NSSO has an Enterprise Information and Communications Technology (ICT) function responsible for driving innovation to deliver new digital opportunities for the NSSO, including robotic process automation (RPA) and cloud technologies.
The Enterprise ICT function leads the ICT Strategy for the NSSO, manages third party service providers, oversees and project manages ICT projects, and provides ICT operations and support services for the lines of business functions of the NSSO. Through its Solutions team, it also provides a Programme Management service to the NSSO for all projects.
through integrated smart forms, robotics and interfaces between HR and Payroll services, that has enabled increased employee productivity and efficiency, which reduced cycle times and increased output throughout 2021.
New digital mass instruction forms were rolled out in 2021, and by the end of year, over 29,000 transactions had been completed by this integrated smart form. This service has been very favourably received by our clients. Improvements were noted in customer experience, turnaround times and data quality and accuracy.
It is also responsible for the identification and management of ICT risk for the NSSO.
Acceleration of Digital Transformation A new programme to upgrade the current Human Resources Management technology, PeopleSoft, commenced in 2021.
Six new RPA processes were developed and delivered including ones related to fully automating the Mass Instruction Request process, automatic assignment of pay documents to the Document Management system and assignment to the relevant Payroll Services section.
This is a significant technological step forward, removing reliance on an ageing and heavily customised application. The upgrade will introduce a more user-friendly experience with the option for deployment to mobile devices. The upgrade will provide a technical platform from which enhanced functionality may be delivered in later phases. It is anticipated that the upgraded system will be rolled out in tranches commencing in quarter one of 2023.
Improved Security The NSSO made continuous improvements in its information security during 2021 by replacing all of its legacy payroll technology that is now on the latest software version with enhanced self-service reporting.
ICT Leadership Following the External Evaluation by the Institute of Public Administration (IPA), in 2021 the NSSO Advisory Board agreed to establish an ICT Committee to assess existing systems resilience, recovery and cyber controls and protection, with particular attention to planned functional and system upgrades. The Committee will also consider and make recommendations
In addition a significant upgrade of the Payroll system to Core V28, a large technology upgrade project was implemented to ensure a better user experience to all Payroll Services PSB clients.
Digitisation of Services Further digitisation of services that support digital government were made
Annual Report 2021
on new and emerging cloud and digital technologies that will improve the customer service experience and support the NSSO ICT plan in the absence of a Chief Information Officer. This will help to plan for the NSSO being “best in class” and the Civil Service benefiting from the NSSO, exploiting the full potential of modern digital technology platforms, systems and solutions.
The NSSO plans to develop
and expand this service so
that it can extract more long-
term value and insights in real
time from the HR and Payroll
Cyber Security Following the HSE Malware attack in May 2021, the ICT function carried out a range of risk assessments and initiatives to ensure the NSSO’s cyber readiness. These include:
data available.
• Assurances received from service providers on their cyber preparedness and recovery
Data Analytics At a strategic level across the Civil Service, enhanced data analytics gained through the NSSO’s Shared Services functions are assisting with pay talks and helping to inform pay policy, and other policies, including absence, leave and mobility, that are critical to the delivery of the Civil Service Renewal
• Engagement of external assistance in planning for formal accreditation for the NSSO in Information Security Management
• Engagement with the National Cyber Security Centre in the production of the Public Sector Cyber Security Baseline Standards
14 programme. The NSSO is a key partner in delivering this strategic initiative and significant developments were made in 2021 to invest and innovate its Data Analytics services to deliver real-time insights for Public Service Bodies to enable data-driven decision making.
13 in November 2021
• Mandatory participation for all staff in Cyber Security Awareness training
• Creation of Cyber Security Readiness Document
• Creation of Cyber Security Incident Response Procedure
Establishment of a new Data Analytics and Reporting team
• Recruitment of IT Security Manager and creation of dedicated cyber security team in quarter one 2022
The new team which was established in June 2021 are now fully trained on analytics and data visualisation software technology, and are now managing the data requests from clients across HR and Payroll Services.
• Simulated phishing exercise carried out in October 2021 with further exercises planned in quarter one 2022
13 Public Sector Cyber Security Baseline Standards 14 Civil Service Renewal Strategy 2030 ‘Building on our Strengths’
National Shared Services Office (NSSO)
Enhanced Data Warehousing and Data Analytics Software
DPER Pay Policy Engagement A new initiative this year also saw the data analytics team working closely with colleagues in DPER Pay Policy on a range of areas such as pay restoration and grade rationalisation.
New data warehouse and data visualisation software were installed in 2021, that together with enhanced data analytics software, now provides visualisation of complex comparative data and trends from across payroll and HR, particularly in employee demographics, staff movement and retirement forecasting, and on a selfservice basis to all Government and Offices served.
The new team keeps everyone informed of planned pay changes, ensuring the key stakeholders are aware of proposed changes and how these changes impact on the Payroll and HR systems.
ICT Specialist Recruitment Bringing ICT talent into the NSSO was identified as a key challenge in 2021. For the first time, the NSSO used the recruitment licence awarded to them by the Commission of Public Service Appointments (CPSA) to hire five specialised ICT roles. This recruitment drive took place in quarter three and quarter four and was successful in filling four of the five posts advertised.
The NSSO plans to develop and expand this service so that it can extract more long-term value and insights in real time from the HR and Payroll data available. This will enable our clients across the Public Service to make more enhanced data-driven decisions and have a broader understanding of the HR and Payroll trends happening across the Civil Service.
Figure from page 44
Examples of Data Analytics now available to clients via Tableau software:
Figure from page 45
National Shared Services Office (NSSO)
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Champion Shared Services
Figure from page 46
across the Public Sector
Annual Report 2021
In addition to delivering Shared Services for the Civil Service, the NSSO holds a statutory remit to support and advance shared services across the Public Service. There are Shared Services programmes underway in the sectors of Health, Education, Local Government as well as in the Civil Service, each led by shared services functions within each sector.
The Education Sector Shared Services projects and operations in the education sector expanded and developed further in 2021 with progress made across multiple programmes and a scaling of activities in the Education Shared Business Services (ESBS) centre. Plans to continue the expansion of services advanced despite the impact of COVID-19, with teams working to find ways to manage pandemic-related effects on both operations and projects in development whilst adhering to Government guidelines.
and for Tender & Contract Management in preparation for planned go-live.
Work also continued in 2021 on upgrading the schools employees’ payroll function and the teams commenced work on the pensions programme for both the schools employees payees and those served by ESBS.
The Higher Education Payroll Shared Services project added a new institution to its payroll shared service proof of concept phase and work advanced with other higher education entities in preparation for planned migrations. The team is working with the Technological Universities’ transformation programme to prepare the new Technological Universities for migration to the shared service for HR and payroll processing. The education sector also supports the work of IT shared-service providers, HEAnet and EduCampus, who provide who provide internet connectivity and shared ICT services to approximately one million students, researchers, and staff across the primary, post-primary, further and higher education.
By the end of 2021, three operations teams were up and running in ESBS and a total of 19 go-lives were successfully achieved during the year. Four new ETBs were added to the Education and Training Boards (ETB) payroll shared services, bringing the total number of ETBs on the service to eleven. Work continues to prepare for the migration of the remaining ETBs during 2022 and 2023, and for migrations of a second wave of learner payments to the shared service, following the successful transition of wave one learners in 2020.
Consolidation of ETB finance systems onto a common Financial Management System (FMS) continued in 2021 with five ETBs migrated from legacy systems. In total, eleven ETBs are now on the common platform in preparation for the implementation of a Finance Shared Service with plans to transition the remaining ETBs in 2022/3. Work has continued throughout the year preparing for the procurement for a finance solution, and there has been progress on services for Contracted Training
As the scale of operations under the shared services programmes increased, tracking of benefits realisation was progressed. Benefits tracked in 2021 included the enhanced arrangements for business continuity and disaster recovery for ETBs who have moved from legacy systems; improved data for control and decision-making in the ETB sector; cloud-based shared services that have effectively supported remote working; improved customer service and continuous
National Shared Services Office (NSSO)
improvement; increased standardisation; and the achievement of savings outlined in the shared services business cases over time.
The governance of the shared
Local Government Sector In July 2010, the Local Government Efficiency Review published its report which identified 31 shared services opportunities in the local government sector. The Public Service Reform Oversight Group (PSROG) was established in 2012 by the County and City Management Association (CCMA) to directly oversee the reform agenda for the sector and in 2015 the PSROG was integrated into the structures of the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) as a Committee of the LGMA Board. The role of the PSROG is to direct, monitor and report on the reform and efficiency programme of local government.
services is primarily through
programme/project boards
reporting to either CCMA or
LGMA Committees, including
the Public Service Reform
Oversight Group (PSROG),
which ultimately reports to
the LGMA Board.
The CCMA adopted a detailed methodology for developing shared services including the development of a PID (Project Initiation Document), Business Case, Peer Review and a process for bidding to take on the role of lead authority for the service. These processes and templates were reviewed and updated as part of the relaunch of the LGMA Project Management Office (PMO) in 2021.
services approved in the Business Case requires the approval of the PSROG and any subsequent additional expenditure incurred by a shared service operated by the LGMA requires the approval of the LGMA Board if it exceeds €100,000. Where funding is partly or wholly sourced from the local authorities, the LGMA Board approves the apportionment of the charges annually.
There are a number of ICT services provided by the LGMA which are not included as shared services, including the ongoing development, support and maintenance of iHouse, iPlan, iReg, Travel & Subsistence, Low Value Purchase Cards, LGReturns, eCount, the Extranet, management of local authority technical groups, Microsoft Office 365 and Micromail contracts.
Each of the 31 shared services identified in the 2010 LGER report were investigated and most of them led to the development of a Business Case and a Peer Review of the Business Case. Further shared services have also been approved by the Public Sector Reform Oversight Group between 2012 and 2022.
The governance of the shared services is primarily through programme/project boards reporting to either CCMA or LGMA Committees, including the Public Service Reform Oversight Group (PSROG), which ultimately reports to the LGMA Board. Any enhancement of functions above the
In total there are 39 shared services operating in the local government sector with a cost of over €22m per annum. 20 of the shared services are managed by the LGMA and the remaining 19 shared services are being managed by approved single lead
Annual Report 2021
The Health Sector There was significant disruption to all Health Services Executive (HSE) services during 2021 due to a ransomware cyberattack. This placed substantial pressure on all divisions to maintain services over 10- 12 week period of limited IT operational systems being available.
authority or regional structures, involving 17 local authorities.
The benefits of each shared service project are identified in the individual Business Case prepared for each shared service. Broadly, the benefits delivered to the local government sector include financial savings, standardisation of processes, and development of specific business area or technical expertise.
While continuing to manage the COVID-19 challenges the Shared Services within the HSE division maintained current levels of service throughout the year. Following a HSE corporate review, the future vision for shared services has facilitated a transition from a central function (formerly Health Business Services) to a more traditional Shared Service provision from the corporate functions. E.g. Finance Shared Services now operate from the National Finance Division (NFD).
Since the establishment of the Public Sector Reform Oversight Group, one key learning is the requirement to process each proposed national shared service or regional arrangement through the PSROG’s project management methodology to fully scope each project, identify benefits that can be realised and ensure that the projects are appropriately funded and resourced.
Procurement While the priority continued to focus on COVID-19, and to a lesser extent on Brexit, the non-COVID-19 procurement activity returned to sufficient levels towards the second half of the year.
See Appendix 5 for the list of current Shared Services operating within the Shared Services Sector.
Looking to 2022 the key priorities will be:
• UAT, pilot testing and rollout of ePlanning portal facilitating online planning applications
Key priorities include the continued roll out of our national distribution centre, and the focus on national contracting and sourcing.
• Development of the National Housing ICT System
All teams worked with suppliers to maintain supplies across the HSE during the cyberattack.
• Business Case for the Local Government Electoral Registration System
• Finalise a Business Case for Service Delivery for Rural Water
Finance During the cyber-attack the finance team stood up emergency services for payroll and payments to suppliers.
• Develop an operating model for the National Laboratories Strategy
• Develop the LocalGov.ie portal
• Project Configuration and testing of the Housing Asset Management ICT System
Continue to deal with the challenges of COVID-19 and maintain operational service levels and adapting to work from home.
National Shared Services Office (NSSO)
Human Resources The division continued to support all COVID-19-related activity and key support to maintaining essential recruitment services during the cyber-attack.
The HR function supported the record levels of recruitment across the HSE (both Covid and non-Covid staffing requirements).
Estates 2021 saw the development and roll out of a new National Estates Information System (NEIS) which will deliver an Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) and Common Data Environment (CDE). This system will support all HSE Estates and Maintenance functions across the HSE to communicate and share data providing one central source of information. NEIS is one of the largest digital change projects onboarded by the organisation and will transform how HSE Estates does business both internally and externally.
In addition the Shared Services continued working with all divisions on health care capacity and service provision during the year.
SAP Centre of Excellence Supported the HR, Finance and service divisions during the cyber-attack by standing up a single emergency centre for SAP HR & Payroll operation. It continued to support the Finance & HR Reform programmes in rolling out national SAP systems across the HSE.
8
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Figure from page 51
National Shared Services Office (NSSO)
Financial Information
| 2021 2020 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estimate provision | Outturn | Outturn | ||
| €000 | €000 | €000 | €000 | |
| Programme expenditure | ||||
| A NSSO function | ||||
| Estimate provision | 35,805 | |||
| Deferred surrender | 1,435 | |||
| 37,240 | 35,290 | 24,841 | ||
| B HR shared services | 10,211 | 9,602 | 9,962 | |
| C Payroll shared services | 12,334 | 12,821 | 12,808 | |
| D Finance shared services | 3,475 | 1,381 | 251 | |
| Gross expenditure | ||||
| Estimate provision | 61,825 | |||
| Deferred surrender | 1,435 | |||
| 63,260 | 59,094 | 47,862 | ||
| Deduct | ||||
| E Appropriations-in-aid | 6,238 | 6,438 | 5,911 | |
| Net expenditure | ||||
| Estimate provision | 55,587 | |||
| Deferred surrender | 1,435 | |||
| 57,022 | 52,656 | 41,951 |
Annual Report 2021
The outturn for 2021 is a net underspend of €4.366m / 7.7% (2020 €14.473m / 25.8%).*
*Financial information for 2021 is provisional pending completion of the audit by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General and publication of the Annual Appropriation Accounts.
The main driver for the underspend was due to the timeline for the deployment of the FMSS project being extended from late quarter four 2021 to early quarter two 2022, and the later than envisaged commencement of Finance Shared Services operations as a result.
Spending by category for
n Pay
n Non-Pay
2021
n Capital
National Shared Services Office (NSSO)
Appendices
Annual Report 2021
Appendix 1: Organisation Structure
Hilary joined DPER during the fiscal crisis to lead the establishment of Shared Services. Previous roles include Transformation Director in Global Corporations, Director EMEA HR & M&A for Oracle (EMEA) where she led the establishment of Finance Shared Services in Oracle EMEA; International HR Director (Europe and Asia) for APC Corporation; Associate Director, Deloitte & Touche, Dublin.
Figure from page 55
Hilary Murphy-Fagan
Finance Services
Figure from page 55
Figure from page 55
Seán Reilly
John Ryan Bernie Kelly
A career civil servant with experience across six departments and offices Seán has previously served in senior leadership roles in the Department of Social Protection as Head of PRSI Policy and Client Eligibility Services, Divisional Manager for the North East and Head of Finance accounting for an annual budget of €19 billion.
John has responsibility for HR Services, Payroll Services and Customer Relationships & Support Services. He has extensive experience in the Civil Service at the Dept. of Justice (Citizenship), NSSO (Head of HR Operations) and now as Assistant Secretary in Employee Services.
Bernie is a CIMA qualified professional, with significant experience in running large scale global finance shared service operations and leading finance transformation in US multinationals. Bernie has led Finance Shared Services division since 2017.
Figure from page 55
Figure from page 55
Figure from page 55
Gerard Enright Richard Smith
Mary Purcell Cep Carty
Figure from page 55
Figure from page 55
Figure from page 55
Jarlath Loftus
Helen Moylan
Edel McCormack
Figure from page 55
Customer Relations &
Support Services
John Dunleavy
Figure from page 55
Aodhnait Doyle
HR, Organisation
Colette Neenan
Development
Anne Cosgrove (Acting)
National Shared Services Office (NSSO)
Appendix 2: Board Members and Committees
NSSO Advisory Board
In 2021 Niamh O’Donoghue was appointed as Chairperson to the Advisory Board. The Advisory Board met four times in 2021 and the key topics considered by the Board were:
• NSSO Strategy Development Process Enterprise IT model and capability to deliver the NSSO Strategy 2021-2023
• NSSO Customer Engagement Survey
• Human Capital Management (HCM) Project
• Implementation of Board recommendations following External Review of Board Effectiveness
• NSSO Strategic Risks: the Board reviewed the NSSO’s Strategic Risks and focussed on the following; FMSS, Legacy IT Systems and threat from Cyber-attack. The Board was also briefed on the work of the NSSO’s Audit and Risk Committee at each meeting.
• NSSO Key Performance Indicators
• COVID-19 Pandemic
• Cyber awareness
• Financial Management Shared Services Programme - the Board members noted the completion of System Build and the move to User Acceptance Testing (UAT) stage which continued into early 2022.
During 2021 NSSO Advisory Board Members included:
• Niamh O’Donoghue (Chair)
• Hilary Murphy-Fagan, Chief Executive, NSSO
• Dr Orlaigh Quinn (Deputy Chair), Secretary General, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
• David Cagney, Civil Service Chief Human Resources Officer
• Niall Cody, Chairman of the Revenue Commissioners
• Ken Slattery, Independent Member and Chair of NSSO Audit and Risk Committee (appointed through the Public Appointments Service process)
• John McKeon, Secretary General, Department of Social Protection
• Jacqui McCrum, Secretary General, Department of Defence
• Ray Gray, Independent Member (appointed through the Public Appointments Service process).
Annual Report 2021
NSSO Audit & Risk Committee
During 2021 the Committee provided guidance, oversight and assurance in a challenging and complex environment. The Committee considered the NSSO’s internal audit plan for 2021 and received seven reports during the year from the internal audit function on the following matters:
• Audit of IT at the operating level – HR Services
• Data protection update audit report
• Suspense accounts update audit report
• Superannuation and pensions audit report
• Audit of IT at the operating level – Payroll Services
• Integrated audit of payroll overpayments
• Corporate governance audit report
Having sought an external assessment from the Institute of Public Administration on the Committee, the small number of recommendations have been implemented. In particular, the assessment recommended the addition of Information Technology expertise to the Committee membership. To this end David Fox was appointed as a member of the Committee in early 2021.
NSSO Audit & Risk Committee members include:
• Ken Slattery (Chair), Independent Member of the NSSO’s Advisory Board with wide-ranging financial services experience and has held non-executive director positions with a number of Irish and Northern Ireland government departments, including chair positions on audit & risk committees
• Tom Medlycott, a Senior Inspector with the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine and former Head of Internal Audit of the Department (Departed February 2021)
• David Fox, with extensive experience as a senior telecommunications and IT executive, in the semi-state and private sectors (Joined February 2021)
• Shauna Greely, a Finance Business Partner with Ulster Bank and past President of Chartered Accountants Ireland
• Dennis Harrington former Head of Finance in the Accountant General’s Branch of the Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Joined July 2021)
• Margaret Lane, an experienced HR Director with experience in the commercial semi-state and public sectors
• The Chairman of the Committee is also a member of the NSSO’s Advisory Board and updates the Board at each meeting on the work of the Audit Committee
National Shared Services Office (NSSO)
NSSO Management Board
In 2021 the Management Board met on 32 occasions to review and monitor the performance of the Office while examining and challenging matters brought before them for consideration.
In order to inform and update the Board, Principal Officers with responsibility as Heads of function attended the Management Board meetings in 2021 as required where their areas were being discussed. This included the Heads of Internal Audit, HR, Organisational Development and Communications, Governance and Strategy, and Finance and Facilities.
Some key items considered by the Board were:
• Strategy development
• Staff health and wellbeing during COVID-19
• Employee engagement and Healthy Place to Work
• COVID-19 response measures
• Business continuity
• Business planning
• Financial controls
• Risk and Cyber Readiness
• Critical projects (such as technology upgrades and the Financial Management Shared Services Programme)
• Data protection
• Controls and audit
NSSO Management Board members include:
• Hilary Murphy-Fagan, Chief Executive (Chair)
• Richard Smith, Principal Officer, Head of Enterprise ICT also attends all meetings
• John Ryan, Assistant Secretary, Head of Employee Services
• Other Heads of Function and officials report to the Management Board on a rotational basis as required, including the Heads of Finance and Facilities, HR and Organisational Development and Corporate Governance, Strategy, Risk and Communications
• Bernie Kelly, Assistant Secretary, Head of Finance Services
• Seán Reilly, Assistant Secretary, Head of Corporate Services
Annual Report 2021
NSSO Employee Services Strategy Committee
The primary function of the Employee Services Strategy Committee is to provide strategic advice and share information in support of the future development and effective delivery of employee shared services. The Committee met on four occasions during the year.
The principal matters considered by the Committee in 2021 were:
• Development of an integrated HCM System
• Salary in arrears
• Third party deductions
• Customer Survey Action Plan
• Terms of reference for future review of ESSC
• How the NSSO contributes to adding value to its clients
NSSO Employee Services Strategy Committee members include:
• David Cagney, Civil Service Chief Human Resources Officer (Chair)
• Assistant Secretaries responsible for corporate services from the Departments of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Defence, Social Protection, Foreign Affairs, Justice, and the Office of the Revenue Commissioners
• Barry Lowry, Government Chief Information Officer
• John Ryan, Assistant Secretary, Head of Employee Shared Services in the NSSO
Employees Services Customer Group (ESCG)
The Employee Services Customer Group provides a structured forum to review service performance, resolve service issues and to continuously improve service delivery. The ESCG supports the drive for best practice in HR and Payroll policy and shared services transaction processing, reporting and analytics. The ESCG met on 11 occasions during the year, moving to virtual meetings during the COVID-19 emergency. Some key items discussed included enterprise integration, third party deductions, streamlining interactions between the NSSO and its client PSBs, the Customer Survey and Action Plan, NSSO customer complaint procedure, overpayments and the work of the sub-group of the ESCG.
Employees Services Customer Group (ESCG) committee members include:
• The Heads of HR and Payroll in the NSSO. The departments represented on the Group in 2021 were Public Expenditure and Reform, Justice, Defence, Agriculture, Education, Social Protection Enterprise Trade and Employment, and the CSO and Revenue.
• John Ryan, Assistant Secretary, Head of Employee Shared Services, (Chair)
• HR Managers and Finance Officers
• The Chair of the HR Manager’s Network
National Shared Services Office (NSSO)
FMSS Programme Board
The Financial Management Shared Services Programme (FMSS) has a Programme Board which provides advice and support, and oversees key decision making in relation to the Programme in line with the approved business case and Government policies, particularly within the Reform policy area. During 2021, the Board met on 11 occasions and discussed progress on the programme, the estimated programme costs, and updates on cyber security, disaster recovery and system performance testing from the Head of NSSO Enterprise IT.
FMSS Programme Board members include:
• Sir Bruce Robinson (Chairperson), former Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service
• Des Dowling, Assistant Secretary, Department of Defence (Up to June 2021)
• John McKeon, Secretary General, Department of Social Protection, (joined the Board in 2019 as the Civil Service Management Board (CSMB) representative)
• Mary O’Donohue, Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
• John Hogan, Assistant Secretary, Department of Finance (Up to June 2021)
• Mary Hurley, Assistant Secretary, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
• Robert Mooney, Assistant Secretary, Department of Defence (From June 2021)
• Martina Colville, Assistant Secretary, Department of Justice
• Scline Scott, Principal Officer Head of Corporate Office Department of Finance (From June 2021)
Annual Report 2021
The NSSO Occupational Health and Safety Committee
The main aspects of the Committee’s activities were as follows:
• adoption of Terms of Reference for the Committee itself;
• adoption of metrics by which the OHS performance of the organisation can be gauged; and
• adoption of the revised NSSO Occupational Health and Safety Policy Statement and Occupational Health and Safety Manual;
• oversight of the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the work of the Covid Response Group;
• oversight of the Action Plan on ergonomics;
Revision of the NSSO Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Policy Statement and Manual notified to all staff. It is widely available in hardcopy in each of the NSSO office locations, and is posted on the NSSO Intranet.
Committee members include:
• Grainne Nic Dhonnacha CRSS
• Seán Reilly (Chair), Assistant Secretary, Corporate Services
• James Blake, Assistant Principal, Facilities
• Jarlath Loftus, Head of Finance and Facilities
• Tony Power, Payroll Operations
• Edna Blake, Assistant Principal, Internal Audit
• John Dunleavy, Head of Governance, Risk, Strategy and Communications
• Stephen Tighe, Payroll Operations
• Anne Cosgrove, Head of HR and OD (Acting)
• Alison Guckian, Assistant Principal, Payroll Operations
• Brian Keenan, HR Business Partner
• Seamus Long, Enterprise IT
• Joan Greene, Facilities Manager
• Niamh O’Keefe, CRSS
• Paul Reynolds (Secretary to the Committee)
National Shared Services Office (NSSO)
Appendix 3: NSSO Client Public Service Bodies
| 1. | Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine |
|---|---|
| 2. | Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth |
| 3. | Department of Defence |
| 4. | Department of Education |
| 5. | Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment |
| 6. | Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications |
| 7. | Department of Finance |
| 8. | Department of Foreign Afaf irs |
| 9. | Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation, and Science. |
| 10. | Department of Health |
| 11. | Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage |
| 12. | Department of Justice |
| 13. | Department of Public Expenditure and Reform |
| 14. | Department of Rural and Community Development |
| 15. | Department of Social Protection |
| 16. | Department of the Taoiseach |
| 17. | Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media |
| 18. | Department of Transport |
| 19. | The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission |
| 20. | The Courts Service |
| 21. | The Central Statistics Office |
| 22. | An Garda Síochána |
| 23. | The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission |
| 24. | The Health Information and Quality Authority |
| 25. | That part of the Department of Foreign Afaf irs responsible for administration of the scheme known as Irish Aid |
| 26. | The Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority |
| 27. | The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission |
| 28. | The Irish Prison Service of the Department of Justice |
| 29. | The Law Reform Commission |
|---|---|
| 30. | The Legal Aid Board |
| 31. | The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment |
| 32. | The National Council for Special Education |
| 33. | The National Disability Authority |
| 34. | The National Library of Ireland |
| 35. | The National Museum of Ireland |
| 36. | The Office of the Atot rney General (including the services assigned to the Atot rney General) |
| 37. | The Office of the Chief State Solicitor |
| 38. | The Office of the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland |
| 39. | The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General |
| 40. | The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions |
| 41. | The Office of the Ombudsman |
| 42. | The Office of the President |
| 43. | The Office of the Revenue Commissioners |
| 44. | Ordnance Survey Ireland |
| 45. | The Permanent Defence Force |
| 46. | The Public Appointments Service |
| 47. | The Property Registration Authority |
| 48. | The Road Safety Authority |
| 49. | The State Examinations Commission |
| 50. | The State Laboratory |
| 51. | The Valuation Office |
| 52. | The Workplace Relations Commission |
| 53. | The National Shared Services Office |
| 54. | The Policing Authority |
| 55. | The Tax Appeals Commission |
| 56. | Data Protection Commission |
National Shared Services Office (NSSO)
Appendix 4: NSSO Services
The NSSO provides the following services to its customers:
Employee Services Provided to all clients in receipt of HR, Pensions and Payroll Services.
| Employee Services | |
|---|---|
| Absence Administration | Payment Delivery |
| Customer Service and Contact Centre | Pension Administration |
| Employee Data Administration | Pension Inputs and Processing |
| Employee Scheme Administration | PMDS |
| Exit Administration | Probation |
| HR Reporting | Quality Management |
| Leave Administration | Reporting and Exceptional Data Requests |
| Organisation Structure Administration | Service Management |
| Pay and Remuneration Administration | Travel and Subsistence Processing |
| Pay Advice Distribution | Work Sharing Administration |
Finance Services The following services will be provided to all Finance Services clients as they transfer into the NSSO, starting in 2022:
Finance Services
Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable
Master Data Management
Fixed Asset Accounting and Asset Management
General Ledger Accounting and Taxation
Service and Governance
Annual Report 2021
Appendix 5: List of Shared Services in the Local Government Sector 2021
The current shared services active in the local government sector are set out below including the status of the shared service and the lead local authority or other public service body:
No. Shared Service Status Lead Local Authority/
Public Service Body
| 1 | Age Friendly Ireland Co-Ordination (AFICO) | Established | Meath County Council |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Agresso (FMS) | Established | LGMA |
| 3 | National Building Control Office (NBCO) | Established | Dublin City Council |
| 3a | National Market Surveillance Office (NMSO) | Established | Dublin City Council |
| 4 | Central Data Unit (Data Gathering & Analytics) | Established | LGMA |
| 5 | Core HR Enterprise System | Established | LGMA |
| 6 | Customer Surveys | In Progress | LGMA |
| 7 | Debt Management (Commercial Rates) | In Progress | LGMA |
| 8 | eInvoicing | Established | LGMA |
| 9 | ePlanning Online Planning Portal | In Progress | LGMA |
| 10 | Fix Your Street Online Reporting | Established | South Dublin County Council |
| 11 | Housing Asset Management System | In Progress | LGMA |
| 12 | Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) | Established | Limerick City & County Council |
| 13 | LEO Management Information System | In Progress | Enterprise Ireland |
| 14 | Library Management System (LMS) | Established | LGMA |
| 15 | Licensing of Dangerous Substances | In Progress | LGMA |
| 16 | Licensing of Hazardous Waste (National TFS Office) | Established | Dublin City Council |
| 17 | LocalGovernmentJobs.ie (Recruitment website) | Established | LGMA |
National Shared Services Office (NSSO)
| No. Shared Service Status Lead Local Authority/ Public Service Body | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | Local Government Operational Procurement Centre (Supplygov.ie) | Established | Kerry County Council |
| 19 | Local Government Strategic Procurement Centre | Established | LGMA |
| 20 | Local Government Portal (LocalGov.ie) | In Progress | LGMA |
| 21 | National Dog Registration | Established | An Post/ Louth County Council |
| 22 | National Housing Delivery Co-Ordination Office (HDCO) | Established | LGMA |
| 23 | National Housing ICT System | In Progress | LGMA |
| 24 | National Laboratories Strategy | In Progress | LGMA |
| 25 | Local Government National Service Catalogue | Established | LGMA |
| 26 | Local Authority Waters Programme Office (formerly LAWCO and LAWSAT) | Established | Kilkenny and Tipperary County Councils |
| 27 | Non Principal Private Residence (NPPR) – online payment system | Established | LGMA |
| 28 | Payroll & Superannuation (MyPay) | Established | Laois County Council |
| 29 | Public Lighting | Established | Road Management Office |
| 30 | Regional Climate Action Offices (CAROs) | Established | Mayo, Cork, Kildare, Kilkenny and Dublin local authorities |
| 31 | Regional Waste Management Offices (RWMO) | Established | Limerick, Tipperary, Mayo and Dublin City Councils |
| 32 | Voter.ie | Established | Dublin City Council |
| 33 | Local Government Electoral Registration System | In Progress | Dublin City Council |
Annual Report 2021
No. Shared Service Status Lead Local Authority/
Public Service Body
| 34 | Road Management Office (RMO) | Established | Donegal and Cork County Councils |
|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | Service Delivery for Rural Water | In Progress | DHLGH |
| 36 | Spend Data Management System | Established | LGMA |
| 37 | Waste Collection Permits (NWCPO) | Established | Ofaf ly County Council |
| 38 | Waste Co-Ordination Office | Established | LGMA |
| 39 | Waste Enforcement (WERLAs) | Established | Cork County, Dublin City and Leitrim & Donegal County Councils |
National Shared Services Office (NSSO)
Notes
Notes
National Shared Services Office (NSSO)
Notes
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