1. What is the OECD Review of the Irish Public Service?
The OECD Review of the Irish Public Service ‘Towards An Integrated Public Service’ was published in April 2008. It benchmarks the Public Service in Ireland against other comparable countries, and makes recommendations as to the future direction of public service reform. It is a comprehensive assessment of the Irish Public Service which confirms the many strengths of the current system while also identifying challenges which need to be addressed.
2. What did the OECD say about the Irish Public Service?
The key findings and recommendations set out in the OECD’s Report ‘Towards an Integrated Public Service’are as follows:
- The numbers employed in the Irish Public Service is relatively low in comparison to other OECD countries. It is significantly less that the level of public employment in Norway, Sweden, France, Finland and Belgium.
- Ireland has the third smallest total public expenditure as a percentage of GDP, (third to Korea and Mexico), and this figure has decreased over the past ten years. In comparison with other OECD countries, Ireland has been able to deliver services with a Public Service that is relatively small given the size of the economy and labour force.
- The OECD recommends thinking about the Public Service as a more integrated 'system'. This means getting people within the different elements of the Irish Public Service, to work in a more consistent, coordinated, networked way, across the traditional sectoral and organisational boundaries.
- While Ireland has had many successes in developing internal e-government systems, co-operation across Public Service bodies is not widespread. The full potential of ICT and e-government is not being realised by public sector organisations for citizens; and
- As with other countries, the focus in Ireland has been on performance reporting, rather than on managing for performance. The focus needs to shift from inputs and processes, to outputs and achieving outcomes.
3. How did the Government respond to the OECD Review?
The Task Force on the Public Service was established in May 2008 by the Taoiseach, Mr. Brian Cowen, T.D., to develop an Action Plan for the Public Service drawing on the analysis and recommendations of the OECD Review of the Public Service (launched in April 2008).
The Task Force completed its work in November 2008 when it published its report ‘Transforming Public Services-Citizen Centred-Performance Focused’ which sets out a challenging agenda for change in the Public Service. The Government has adopted the Task Force’s Report, and has set out measures in its Policy Statement on Transforming Public Services to radically transform the Public Service.