A reform of public personnel, mandatory, commonsensical (FinMin Teodorovici)

A reform of the the public bodies' employees is 'mandatory and commonsensical' in the next period, since we all want an efficient administration, on Tuesday told the Public Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici a public television TVR1 broadcast. 

'We all want an efficient central and local administration. What does this mean? To have not that many people, but exactly the number needed, better paid they are already, the law exists and to be more efficient. I repeat, as many as we need. Not one works and three stand around him and do nothing,' Teodorovici asserted. 

Asked how this reform of the state employees will be carried out, Teodorovici answered: 'It is a one by one discussion, we cannot enforce a percentage on all the horizontal.' 

'Bilateral talks will be when the wrapping up of the budget on 2019 is due, we'll talk to each ministry at a time. We'll talk with the largest areas where the public money is being spent: Transports, Health care, I am talking in particular of the Health Insurance Houses, but of other areas of the economy, other ministries that are covering a lot of companies under their umbrella. Economy, Energy, there are a lot, very many companies which if analysed and discussed in turn, what role they have and if their presence in today's Romania is justified, you'll see we'll find no pros and cons, but only cons (...) Unfortunately, in all of the ministries, year after year, these structures have been burdened and I believe it is high time we said halt and not only halt, but on the reverse sense, we resume the process,' the Finance minister explained. 

He reiterated that he will start with the evaluation of the personnel working with the public money spending ministries, namely 'not only the ministry as such and its own structure, but with the subordinate one, too,' and bilateral talks will be completed by November. 

'The ministries had a deadline yesterday [Monday, ed. n.], to hand me their budget proposals for 2019 within the limits we have drafted for the next year, and then will come the bilateral talk with each ministry. The minister are due to come with their state secretaries, their Finance head, whatever they've got there and we talk the bilateral. We spend a night, two nights, it doesn't matter, three days. (...) I want from them what the whole country wants: efficiency,' Teodorovici underlined. 

As for the way in which the body of state employees can be shrunk, a measure otherwise unpopular, especially if it has no political support, the minister stressed: 'I have this dream for many years, I keep saying it and I won't give it up. (...) The Pension Law I guarantee and assume, which is why I have signed it, on condition that the economy begins to move in the direction and with the speed we want,' the minister concluded.