The reform approved on Friday in Council of Ministers represents for the Ministry ofo Work, Solidarity and Social Security (MTSSS) a cost reduction for both companies and citizens. According to a statement released this Saturday by that ministry, Reduction in context costs for companies is “estimated at 1.5 billion euros” to which are added “27 million euros for citizens next year”.
Also according to the same statement, the changes guarantee the continuation of the Social Security fraud prevention strategy, which is estimated to result in savings of “40 million euros”. The organic reform of the Ministry of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security “aims to significantly improve the public service provided to people and companies and increase accountability to the taxpayer”, reads the statement from the ministry led by Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho.
O MTSSS lists the virtues of the reform he supports in four points:
. “Improving services represents a reduction in context costs for companies, estimated at 1.5 billion euros in 2026, with estimated savings for citizens of 27 million euros;
. “We expect to save 40 million euros by preventing fraud in Social Security next year;
. “The number of entities supervised by the MTSSS is reduced by half, with the merger of some entities and the extinction of commissions that never left the drawing board or are inactive;
. The optimization of structures will result in savings of 14.5 million euros per year.
Led by Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho, the ministry guarantees that the reform ensures a reduction in “context costs and waste from the public treasury”, which result “from the process of digitalization and debureaucratization of Social Security, carried out by the Institute of Informatics (II IP.), which will become a transversal entity, responsible for interoperability between all entities under the supervision of the MTSSS, which includes, for example, the Institute of Employment and Professional Training (IEFP)”.
And it also clarifies that the ministry “guarantees benefits and pensions to more than 4.5 million beneficiaries, in a value that exceeds 25 billion euros annually, and administers more than 30 billion euros in declared and paid contributions”, insisting that “the optimization of MTSSS structures will result in savings of 14.5 million euros per year”.
In the letter addressed to workers in public bodies under the ministry’s supervision, Maria Rosário Palma Ramalho explained that this reform aims to “better direct the public service to the new needs of people and companies, making it more agile, more efficient and closer to citizens”, praising the professionals of these entities as “the biggest asset” of the ministry.
And he advances with clarifications such as this reform having created the “figure of the Citizen and Business Ombudsman in all MTSSS entities with contact with the public, ensuring more transparency”; the number of protected entities have been reduced by half”, which avoids “redundancies”, increases efficiency” and reduces “bureaucracy for citizens and companies”, without anything compromising “the functions carried out by each of the MTSSS entities”.
The document also highlights that the “Institute for the Rights of Persons with Disabilitieswhich results from the merger of the National Institute for Rehabilitation with the Mission Structure for the Promotion of Accessibility”.
And as far as National Strategies are concerned, “namely the National Strategy to Combat Poverty, the National Strategy for the Integration of Homeless People and the National Strategy for Active and Healthy Aging, are integrated into a structure with more human and financial resources to fulfill its mission, the Social Security Institute (ISS IP.)”. The same, the statement continues, “is happening with the National Continuing Care Network, with the Program for Expansion of the Social Equipment Network and Child Guarantee”.
The centralization of actions and services, on the one hand, and the extinction of entities that “are inactive and which were part of the National Council for Solidarity and Social Security Policies (CNPSVFRSS): the Executive Committee for Social Security Policies (CEPSS), the Social Security Policies Committee (CPSS), the Committee for Inclusion Policies for People with Disabilities (CPIPD), the Social and Family Policies Committee (CPSF) and the Volunteering Policies Committee, aim to remove unnecessary fat, it suggests.
Referring as progress to the fact that the Regressar, Garantia Jovem, Erasmus+ and INCoDE,2030 programs are now “integrating the IEFP, which has more resources, maintaining all its competencies”. Regarding the National Agency for Qualification and Professional Education (ANQEP), it clarifies that its responsibilities are transferred to the IEFP and Directorate-General for Employment and Labor Relations (DGERT).
It goes on to say that “the State is no longer a cooperator of the António Sérgio Cooperative for the Social Economy (CASES), and that the State’s public powers in this entity are absorbed by the Directorate-General for Social Security (DGSS), which already certified the IPSS and is now also certifying the cooperatives, avoiding redundancies”.
To conclude: “All these changes aim to combat waste of public funds and improve the quality of service provided to citizens, concentrating resources on the social mission of MTSSS.”