EPG EXECUTIVE POLITICS AND GOVERNANCE PUBLIC SECTOR REFORM IN IRELAND COUNTERING CRISIS MUIRIS M AC CARTHAIGH Executive Politics and Governance The Executive Politics and Governance series focuses on central government, its organisation and its instruments It is particularly concerned with how the changing conditions of contemporary governing affect perennial questions in political science and public administration Executive Politics and Governance is therefore centrally interested in questions such as how politics interacts with bureaucracies, how issues rise and fall on political agendas, and how public organisations and services are designed and operated This book series encourages a closer engagement with the role of politics in shaping executive structures, and how administration shapes politics and policy-making In addition, this series also wishes to engage with the scholarship that focuses on the organisational aspects of politics, such as government formation and legislative institutions The series welcomes high quality research-led monographs with comparative appeal Edited volumes that provide in-depth analysis and critical insights into the field of Executive Politics and Governance are also encouraged Editorial Board Philippe Bezes, CNRS-CERSA, Paris, France Jennifer N Brass, Indiana University Bloomington, USA Sharon Gilad, Hebrew University Jerusalem, Israel Will Jennings, University of Southampton, UK David E Lewis, Vanderbilt University, USA Jan-Hinrik Meyer-Sahling, University of Nottingham, UK Salvador Parrado, UNED, Madrid, Spain Nick Sitter, Central European University, Hungary Kutsal Yesilkagit, University of Utrecht, the Netherlands More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/14980 Muiris MacCarthaigh Public Sector Reform in Ireland Countering Crisis Muiris MacCarthaigh School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics Queen’s University Belfast Belfast, UK Executive Politics and Governance ISBN 978-3-319-57459-2 ISBN 978-3-319-57460-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57460-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017939925 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017 This work is subject to copyright All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Cover illustration: Joana Kruse/Alamy Stock Photo Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland During the Celtic Tiger years, with an abundance of resources, the need to improve the efficiency of the public service was not as clearly seen as a priority as it is now Ireland is clearly entering a period of prolonged fiscal restraint In this environment, major public service reforms are essential to help facilitate adjustment in public administration and minimise service reductions to the public —Wright, R (2010) Strengthening the Capacity of the Department of Finance (Report of the Independent Review Panel) (Dublin: Department of Finance) On the Irish side, the counterparts at both the technocratic and political level were uniformly superb They were knowledgeable, dedicated, smart, funny and committed to tackling Ireland’s difficult situation There are too many individuals for me to mention by name and it’s invidious to single out just a few so I won’t so These Irish public servants were true heroes in how they dealt with the crisis in Ireland and Europe The nation should be proud of them and they should be proud of what they achieved under difficult circumstances —Evidence of A.J Chopra, former IMF deputy director and lead negotiator for the Irish loan programme 2010–13, presented to Oireachtas Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis, 10 September 2015 Acknowledgements The origins of this book can be traced to a series of conversations with Robert Watt following his appointment as Secretary-General at the new Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) in 2011 My interest in the ambitious reform agenda of the freshly elected government was matched by his desire to capture the experience and lessons of reform, warts and all Together we mapped a way forward: he opened the door to Irish government buildings and I undertook to document and analyse how his Department sought to control the state’s public spending after a deep and existential economic crisis, whilst also pursuing the most ambitious public sector reform agenda in Ireland’s history The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and Queen’s University Belfast subsequently agreed to co-sponsor a 2-year Public Service Reform Research Fellowship which allowed me to undertake the fieldwork for this book This work was undertaken primarily over the 2013–2015 period, though data gathering continued right up to the general election of February 2016 This insider access to an Irish government department in action is unprecedented and during the field research I developed good working relations with the many public servants who, though unlikely ever to be household names, worked tirelessly and made tough decisions that played no small part in the state’s very survival And so my first thank you here must be a broad one and is extended to the full staff complement of DPER for being so receptive to the vii viii Acknowledgements project I am particularly grateful to members of the Department’s Management Board for extending their trust at a time of extraordinary challenge and uncertainty, and for always having an open door policy when I came knocking I must thank in particular Dermot Nolan and, following his appointment as Irish ambassador to the OECD, his successor David Feeney for acting as my contact point and for consistently making helpful suggestions as to where I might find relevant information and how I might best make sense of ‘village life’ in the civil service For obvious reasons, interviewees were afforded anonymity—only where individuals were identified in the public record, or were happy to be publicly associated with particular quotations in this study, are they named I am deeply grateful to each individual who gave freely of their time and insights Minister Brendan Howlin was also generous with his time, and shadowing him brought a new appreciation of the considerable skill needed by Irish Cabinet Ministers to juggle ministerial, party, departmental and constituency responsibilities My thanks also to Michelle O’Connor in the Minister’s private office for arranging my ‘fly on the wall’ attendance at a number of events and forums and explaining the finer details of how Cabinet functions Particular thanks must be extended to Rónán O’Brien, whose interest in Irish administrative and political history played no small role in the project’s gestation, and smoothed the way to interviews with some key informants Sincere appreciation also to Patricia Scanlon in the SecretaryGeneral’s office for her unfailing assistance and advice with my many queries and requests This project benefitted greatly from an Academic Advisory Committee: I am indebted to Professor Niamh Hardiman (University College Dublin), Professor Colin Scott (University College Dublin), Professor Edoardo Ongaro (Open University), Professor Koen Verhoest (University of Antwerp) and Professor Matthew Flinders (University of Sheffield) Thanks also to those who took part in a number of academic–practitioner roundtables and workshops in Dublin over the period of the study, including Dr Thomas Elston (University of Oxford), Dr Kate Dommett (University of Sheffield) and members of the Academic Advisory Committee I am grateful to my (then) Head of School Professor David Phinnemore for recognising the merit of the project from its inception, Acknowledgements ix and being consistently supportive as it developed, including facilitating the necessary research leave My huge gratitude, as ever, to my wife Anna who tolerated my research trips to Dublin over several years, managed our small children and the demands of her own career, and still found time to comment on successive drafts Finally, I would like to sincerely thank Robert Watt for opening the door of his Department to academic scrutiny, and for facilitating my requests throughout I hope this work goes some way towards realising his ambition for more informed and probing analysis of Irish public administration Any errors and omissions are the responsibility of the author Contents Introduction 1 Political and Administrative Context 27 A Ministry for Public Sector Reform 59 Through the Window of Reform 91 Shrinking the State: Organisational Reform and Rationalisation 127 Renegotiating the ‘Bargain’ 165 Public Expenditure Reform 193 Culture Reform 213 Political Reform 233 10 Conclusions 255 xi 284 Index independence from Finance Dept, 76, 83, 85 internal IT systems, management of, 144 Leadership and Performance Management Forum, 230 Management Board, 17, 91, 104, 105, 107, 109, 157; meetings, 105; publication of minutes, 107, 108, 247 organisation of, 98, 101; internal organisation, 98, 99f, 101 other departments, engagement with, 101, 157, 266 public service bodies, relationship with, 160 public service pay agreements, and, 169, 174 reform implementation, 105, 122, 123, 130, 226, 263 See also Culture reform; Cutback measures; Organisational reform and rationalisation; Political reform ; monitoring and reporting, 130; policy entrepreneurs, 17, 91, 95, 104, 125, 258; offices and units See Government Reform Unit; National Public Procurement Policy Unit; Office of Government Procurement; Reform Delivery Office (RDO); Renewal Programme Development Office; Shared Services Transformation Office ; sanctioning powers, 159 reform plan See Public Service Reform Plan (2011) Remuneration, Industrial Relations and Pensions Division, 103 reports, publication of, 177 Secretary-General, 83, 91, 92, 97, 100, 103–105, 107, 113, 114, 118, 125, 130, 138, 180, 189, 226, 269; diary, publication of, 110, 247 staff, 93–95, 110, 129, 132, 138, 160, 185; 'away days', 110, 176; Chief Information Officer, 144, 249; Chief Operations Officer, 104; outside personnel, appointment of, 103, 104, 144; pooling, 94 website and twitter accounts, 110, 130, 201, 245, 247, 248 Workforce Planning Group, 231 Department of Social Protection, 206 Department of the Environment, Department of the Public Service (1973–87), 8, 35, 62, 69, 75, 82, 89n, 95, 128 Department of the Taoiseach, 68, 72, 82, 87, 92, 94–96, 99, 110–113, 124, 135, 147, 156, 170, 214, 215, 220, 226, 227, 233, 236, 270, 271 National Risk Assessment reports, 271 Programme for Government Office, 157 Public Service Modernisation Division, 68, 72, 94, 112 reform functions, 84 Secretary-General, 107, 227 staff transfers to DPER, 80, 129 Department of Tourism and Transport, 89n Devlin, Liam, 34 Devlin report, 35, 39, 50 Devolution of authority, 45 Digital First objective, 145 Digitisation of services, 132 Discursive institutionalism, 11 Index Dooney, S., DPER See Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Dublin Castle, 32 E Early retirement scheme, 94, 167 Economic analysis, 87 Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), 75, 195 Economic crisis See Financial and economic crisis (2008) Economic evaluations, 18, 87, 205, 271 Economic growth, 45, 176, 247 Economic Management Council (EMC), 69, 70, 108, 117, 204 Economic planning, 75, 205 Economic policy, 4, 30, 195 Economic recovery, 184, 255 Economic reforms, 53 See also National Recovery Plan 2011-14 Economic sovereignty, 262 Education sector, 138, 142, 158 ECF See Employee Control Framework Efficiency audit group, 36 Efficiency savings, 140 E-government, 44, 71, 144 Elections See General elections Electoral Act 1997, 234 Electricity Supply Board (ESB), 154 EMC See Economic Management Council Emigration, 52, 256 Employee Control Framework (ECF), 128, 132, 168, 185 Employment law, 239 Energy delivery infrastructure, 154 English common law system, 27 E-tendering, 140, 141 285 Ethics in Public Office Commission, 234 Ethnographic approach, 13, 15 European Central Bank (ECB), See also Troika loan programme European Commission (EC), 2, 89n, 200, 265 European Council, 211n European Economic Community (EEC), 34 European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism, 52 European Financial Stability Facility, 52 European Monetary Union, 37 European System of Accounts, 195 European Union (EU), 27, 37, 52, 113, 186, 195 See also Fiscal Compact; Single European Market; Stability and Growth Pact; Troika loan programme budgetary policy for member states,, 201 fiscal rules, 185 procurement rules, 142 Stability Programme for Ireland, 211n Structural and Cohesion Funds, 37, 99 Eurostat, 202 Exchequer and Audit Act 1886, 87 Executive politics, 2, 3, 7, 257 Executive powers, 27, 33 F Fanning, Ronan, FEMPI Acts, 72, 128, 130, 132, 167, 185, 186, 259 unwinding of, 185, 187, 188, 264 Fianna Fáil, 28, 30, 31, 34, 54, 85, 193 286 Index coalition governments, 31, 43, 59, 256 general election 2011, 59, 60 public sector reform proposals, 61 Finance Unit, 79 Financial accounting, 194 Financial and economic crisis (2008), 45, 50, 59, 60, 166, 213, 234 See also Banking crisis; Global financial crisis (GFC) political reform, calls for, 252 post-crisis policy problems, 264 responses to, 49, 60, 91, 128, 147, 271 See also Troika loan programme skills deficit in civil service, 195 See also Department of Finance Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Acts See FEMPI Acts Financial management, 136 Financial oversight, 194, 202 See also Budgetary process Financial reforms, 194, 197 See also Budgetary reforms Financial year, 195 Fine Gael, 28, 31, 35, 59, 70, 148, 155, 156, 178, 243 See also Kenny, Enda; Noonan, Michael coalition government (2011-16) See Fine Gael/Labour coalition (2011-16) general election 2011, 60 minority government (2016), 256, 264 public sector reform proposals, 60, 61 Reinventing Government (2010), 63, 161n Fine-Gael/Labour coalition (20112016), 16, 30, 31, 35, 59–61, 64, 66, 148, 155, 255, 256 See also Programme for Government (2011–2016) Fine-Gael/Labour/DL coalition (1994-97), 111 Fiscal adjustment, 193, 264 Fiscal compact, 202, 210, 256 Fiscal consolidation, 4, 18n, 52 Fiscal disclosure, 207 Fiscal policy, 79, 195, 205 Fiscal Responsibility Act 2012, 202 Fiscal retrenchment, Fiscal Stability Treaty, 262 Fiscal statistics, 195 Fiscal Transparency Assessment for Ireland (IMF), 207 Flinders, M., 12 Forestry rights, 154 Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation, 38, 110, 234, 235, 243, 248 Fulton Committee (UK), 35 G Garda Síochána, 240 General election, 43, 54, 255 2011, 16, 59, 140, 233, 255 2016, 255, 256 Global financial crisis (GFC), 1, 16, 134, 266 Good Friday Agreement 1998, 81, 99 Government balance (2007-16), 209f Government buildings, 14, 92 Government debt-to-GDP, 46, 51, 52f, 197, 202 Government departments, 28, 36–38 See also Ministers; Ministers of State academic studies of, annual reports, 39 annual Vote, 196 capacity See Capacity DPER, relationship with, 157 Index expenditure decisions, 47 high level goals, 123 integrated reform delivery plans, 119 Management Advisory Committees (MACs), 105, 109, 214, 228 performance reporting See Performance budgeting policy-making and implementation, 35 reform, 113, 116, 118 See also Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER); Public Service Reform Plan (2011) ; progress reports, 130; responsibility for, 35, 75 staff, 28 See also Civil service; Public service numbers; Recruitment embargo ; budgetary allocations, 132, 196, 203; recruitment and promotion strategies, 94; target number, 168 Government for National Recovery 2011-2016, 65 Government ministers See Ministers Government reform unit (DPER), 222 civil service accountability project, 220, 223 political reforms, 233–252 Government revenues See Revenues Government Secretariat, 92 Government tendering, 140 See also Procurement GovStat, 115, 249 Great Recession See Global financial crisis (GFC) Greece, 255 Green Party, 43, 48, 54, 59 287 H Haddington Road Agreement (201316), 119, 130, 179–182, 186 key reform measures, 41 legislation, 179 Hardiman, N., Haughey, Charles, 89n Head of Strategic Human Resources, 229, 230 Head of the Civil Service, 224, 226 Health Business Services, 138 Health sector, 143, 266 Heclo, H and Wildavsky, A., 7, 12 Hiring freeze See Recruitment embargo Historical institutionalism, 11 Homelessness, 264 Hood, C., 3, Hospitals, 65, 177 Hours, 175 See also Working hours Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Act 2013, 251 Howlin, Brendan, 69, 70, 95, 106, 156, 181, 203, 243 See also Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform HR management, 229 Chief HR Officer for the Civil Service, 231 modernisation, 226 professionalization, 214, 229, 231 shared services, 137 strategic approach, 18, 213, 232 HR policy, 71 I Iceland, 46 ICT infrastructure, 144, 249 See also Office of the Government Chief Information Officer 288 Index Incentivised Scheme of Early Retirement (ISER), 167 Independence, 16, 27, 32, 251 Independent Review Panel report (2010) See Wright Report Industrial peace, 172, 187 Industrial peace clause, 50, 128, 171 Industrial relations, 50, 71, 91, 100, 103, 125, 132, 185 Industrial unrest, 17, 165, 169, 182 Information technology See IT infrastructure Institute of Public Administration, 75, 82, 151 Institutional theory, 11 International Monetary Fund (IMF), 2, 52, 194, 199, 207 See also Troika loan programme IrelandStat, 201, 249 Ireland:Towards an Integrated Public Service (OECD, 2008) See OECD Irish Business and Employers Confederation, 239 Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), 48, 49, 51, 179, 188, 192, 239 Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC), 16, 202, 210, 211, 264 Irish Free State, 27, 32 Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service’ (IGEES), 87, 205–207 Irish governments See under Political parties Irish State Administration Database, IT infrastructure, 17, 127, 144, 160 J Joined-up government, See also Whole-of-government reform Judges’ pay, 174, 233 Judicial power, 27 Junior ministers See Ministers of State Justice sector, 29f, 134, 136, 158, 170 K Kenny, Enda, 70, 210 Kingdon, J.W., 10 L Labour market activation measures, 53 Labour market policy, 102 Labour Party, 30, 59, 60, 64, 70, 109, 148, 155, 178, 235, 238 See also Fine Gael/Labour coalition (2011-16); Howlin, Brendan public sector reform proposals, 61, 70, 82, 174 ‘New Government, Better Government’ (2010), 235 Labour Relations Commission, 179 Lansdowne Road Agreement, 187, 188, 265 Latvia, 46 Leadership and Performance Management Forum (DPER), 198 Learning and development, 136, 217 Lee, J., 34 Legal Services Regulation Bill, 265 Legal services, 61, 136, 238 Legal system, 27 Legislation, 33, 35, 38, 39, 52, 54, 62, 64, 71, 74, 76, 78–82, 185 DPER, establishing See Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 2011 Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Acts See FEMPI Acts Index multi-annual expenditure ceilings, 199 pre-legislative parliamentary scrutiny, 208 public expenditure and reform functions, transfer of, 77 Legislative power, 27 See also Oireachtas Legislative reforms, 234, 237 See also Statute law revision Lehman Brothers, 46 Lindquist, E.A., 12 Lipsky, M., 16 Lobbying, regulation of, 235, 237, 241, 251 Local authorities, 32, 44, 134, 152 Local government, 8, 28, 134, 234 agency rationalisation, 148, 149 procurement reform, 140, 141 Programme Management Oversight Group, 116 shared services, 119, 120 Local Government Managers Association, 116 Lowry, Michael, 89n M Maastricht Treaty (1992), 37, 193, 195 Management Advisory Committees (MACs), 105, 109 Management Information Framework, 38 Managerialism, Marriage equality referendum, 233 McCarthy, Colm, 47, 106, 147 Media criticism, 260 Medical profession, 52 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, 210 Minimum wage, 52 289 Minister for Finance, 61, 63, 64, 67, 71 See also Noonan, Michael DPER Minister, relationship with, 74, 76, 138 functions and responsibilities, 71, 72; transfers to DPER See under Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Minister for Justice, 265 Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, 14, 68, 71, 77, 87, 96, 140, 155, 256 See also Howlin, Brendan appointment, 65, 72 Finance Minister, relationship with, 70, 157 functions and responsibilities, 62, 69, 71, 72, 77, 119, 123, 129, 137, 140, 142 See also Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) Haddington Road Agreement, 179–182 political advisers, 92, 148 political reforms, role in, 236 Public Service Reform Plan (2014), 102 Ministerial accountability, 18, 220, 235 Ministerial Expenditure Ceilings, 199 Ministers, 16, 28, 61 See also Government departments; Ministerial accountability; Individual Ministers corporations sole, 33 Minister of State for Public Service Transformation, 49, 85 Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924, 38, 51, 64 Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 1973, 69 290 Index Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 2011, 81, 86 Bill, 74, 78, 79, 81–84, 173 explanatory memorandum, 84 Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 2013, 199 Ministers of State (‘junior’ Ministers), 28, 48, 49, 89n Mobility across public service, 43, 66, 104, 191 Modernisation See Public service modernisation Money laundering, 87 Moriarty Tribunal, 80 Mulcreevy case, 73 Mullarkey Report, 39 Multi-annual expenditure ceilings See Budgetary reforms Murray, Charles, MyPay, 138 N National advisory boards, 36 National debt, 196, 198, 201 National Economic Dialogue (NED), 205, 210 National economic plan, 35 National Health Service [UK], National Lottery, 155 National parliament See Oireachtas National Planning Board, 35 National Procurement Service (NPS), 140 National Public Procurement Policy Unit, 111 National Recovery Plan 2011-14, 53, 168, 199 National Risk Assessment reports, 271 National Shared Services Office, 139, 142, 160 National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), 80, 152 Neo-Weberianism, NewERA, 76, 152, 153 New Labour [UK], 111 New Public Governance, New Public Management (NPM), 3, 6, 16, 37, 38, 43 New Zealand, 3, 6, 36, 38 NGOs, 242 Noonan, Michael (Minister for Finance), 67, 76, 156 Northern Ireland, 27 North-South bodies, 72, 99 NPM See New Public Management NPS See National Procurement Service NTMA See National Treasury Management Agency O OECD, 1, 28, 165, 195, 210 review of Irish public service (2008), 43, 48, 94, 111–113, 129, 134, 175, 196 Office for Public Spending and Modernisation, 62, 63, 66 Office of Government Procurement (OGP), 141 Office of Parliamentary Council to the Government (OPC), 62 Office of Public Works, 140 Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO), 144, 249 Oireachtas, 27, 33, 45, 73, 86 See also Dáil Éireann Budgetary oversight See Budgetary process Index Oireachtas committees, 234, 236, 245 See also Public Accounts Committee (PAC) investigative powers, referendum on, 236 Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service, 198 O’Malley, E and MacCarthaigh, M., Ombudsman, 75, 235, 237, 244, 245 Ombudsman (Amendment) Act 2012, 245 Open data, 235, 238, 246, 247 Open government, 18, 235, 238, 242 Open Government Action Plan (2014), 247 Open Government Partnership, 242, 246, 247 Openness, transparency and accountability See OTA reforms Open policy debates, 218 Organisational proliferation, 42 Organisational Review Programme (ORP), 94, 112 Organisational reform and rationalisation, 17, 127 See also Cutback measures; Procurement consolidation; Shared services; State agency rationalisation Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development See OECD OTA reforms, 18, 234, 235, 247 Outcome-based performance culture, 48 Output losses, 46 Output statements, 196, 198 Outputs-based reporting, 120 Overtime, 131, 158, 165, 177, 179, 184 291 P PA Consulting Group Review (2002), 40 Parliament, 28 See also Oireachtas; Oireachtas committees Parliamentary budget oversight See Budgetary process Parliamentary politics See General elections; Political parties Path dependency, 11 Patronage politics, 41, 251 Pay, 37, 39, 40, 47, 48, 84, 101, 166 See also Allowances; Budgetary allocations; Overtime; Pay agreements; Pay cuts; Pensions levy; Performance-related pay emergency legislation See FEMPI Acts freeze, 128, 165, 166 increases, management of, 265 judges, 174, 233 rates for new entrants, 165 responsibility for, 74, 97 restoration, 187 salary ceiling, 174 salary ‘top-ups’, 177 Pay agreements, 17, 37, 114, 130, 166, 169, 178 See also Croke Park Agreement; Haddington Road Agreement; Lansdowne Road Agreement; Social partnership agreement Pay cuts, 49, 50, 128, 167, 169, 171, 219, 265 cumulative cuts, 184t Payroll systems, 136 Pension fund, 52 Pensions, 49, 53, 84, 111, 131, 153, 167, 172, 173, 175 new recruits, 65, 131 reductions in entitlements, 53, 175 responsibility for, 97, 99, 100 292 Index retirement age, changes to, 49 single scheme, 129, 167 Pensions levy, 47, 53 Peoplepoint, 138, 139 Performance, 40, 42, 43, 48, 113, 196 appraisal, 175 assessments, 43 dialogues, 43, 45, 146 Performance-based accountability structures, 44 Performance budgeting, 18, 53, 119, 200, 210 Performance management, 39, 40, 45, 53, 101, 133, 175 reform of system, 175 Secretaries-General, 214, 216 Performance Management and Development System (PMDS), 38, 175, 225 Performance-related pay, 37, 48, 166, 225 Performance reporting See Performance budgeting Performance Verification Groups, 40 Police service, 134, 170, 236, 265 Policy advisers, 39 Policy entrepreneurs, 10, 17, 91, 95, 125 Policy evaluations, 44 Policy-making, 11, 35 Policy problems, 264 Political-administrative system, 16, 29n, 32, 60 Political donations, 234 Political parties, 10, 16, 32, 178, 234, 269 See also Fianna Fáil; Fine Gael; Green Party; Labour Party; Progressive Democrats (PDs); Sinn Féin cronyism, 245 donations to, 234 Irish governments, 30 main parties (1922-2011), 29 public sector reform proposals, 54, 60 support for reform, 52, 260 Political power, 28 Political reform, 99, 233, 252 See also Government Reform Unit; OTA reforms data sharing, 251 FOI reform, 243, 244 lobbying, regulation of, 241–244, 251 Ombudsman’s powers, 244, 245 open data, 246 open government, 246, 247 protected disclosures legislation, 240 state board appointments, 18 Political science, 7, 10, 11 Political system, 18, 27 See also Political reform Political-administrative model See Westminster/Whitehall model Political/special advisers Code of Conduct, 229 President of Ireland, 27 age of eligibility referendum, 233 Private Sector Advisory Board, 98 Private sector pay, 37 Privatization, 149 Procurement, 79, 82, 101, 104, 115 Procurement executive, 143 Procurement consolidation, 17, 127, 133, 140, 144 cross-sectoral procurement, 143 ‘one voice’ principle, 143 Productivity measures, 132 Programme for Government (201116), 66, 68, 70, 72, 92, 99, 110, 111, 113, 140, 149, 235, 236 civil service accountability, 213, 217, 220, 221, 223 Index coordinating cutbacks, 155, 159 legal sector reform, 265 political reforms, 233, 236, 252 programme policy, 135 shared services, 124 Programme for Government Office, 157 Programme of Financial Support for Ireland See Troika loan programme Progressive Democrats (PDs), 30, 43, 88n Promotion, 50, 65, 171, 180 Property construction, 197 Property management, 161 Property market crisis, 45 Property rationalisation, 115 Protected Disclosures Act 2014, 240 Protected disclosures (‘whistleblowing’), 18, 235, 236 PSSC (civil service payroll SSC), 138 Public Accounts Committee (PAC), 33, 143 Public Appointments Service, 75, 245, 266 Public Management Reforms, 37, 38 Public Sector Pay Commission, 265 Public Sector Standards Bill, 250 Public Sector Standards Commissioner, 250 Public accountability See Accountability; civil service accountability; ministerial accountability Public debt, 1, 3, 46, 255 Public expenditure benchmark, 202 cuts See Cutback measures; pay cuts; public service numbers growth in, 179, 198f management, 12, 100, 123, 183, 204 293 multi-annual ceilings, 132, 199, 209 parliamentary oversight See budgetary process policy evaluation and management, 102, 206 reform, 14, 15, 119, 193, 211 See also Budgetary reforms responsibility for, 72, 74, 82, 84, 85, 112, 114, 116, 188, 202 See also Department of Public Expenditure and Reform reviews of.See Comprehensive Reviews of Expenditure Public interest model, 27, 36 Public management reforms, 38 Public policy scholarship, 10–11 Public-private partnerships (PPPs), 153 Public procurement See procurement Public service bargain (PSB), 17, 166, 189 See also Pay agreements; public service numbers changing character of, 190t Public Service Agreement 2010-2014 See Croke Park Agreement (2010) Public Service CIO Council, 145 Public Service Co-ordinating Committee, 170 Public service culture See culture reform Public service employment, 17 See also Civil service; public service numbers; recruitment; recruitment embargo; redeployment; redundancies grading structure, 66 leadership cadre, development of, 218 senior management structures, 66 Special Group report (2009), 47 terms and conditions, 116 See also Annual leave; overtime; pay; 294 Index performance; sick leave arrangements ‘unified’ workforce, move to, 45 Public service identity, 261, 262 Public Service ICT Strategy, 145 Public Service Management Act (1997), 38, 65 Public Service Management Act (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) 2013, 182 Public Service Management Division (PSMD) See under Department of Finance Public service modernisation, 13, 38, 40, 51, 62, 68, 94, 112 Public Service Modernisation Division See under Department of the Taoiseach Public service numbers, 47, 98, 110 Budgetary allocations, 97, 125, 132 control of, 98 See also Employee Control Framework (ECF) increase in, 144 reductions in, 50, 53, 132, 150– 152, 168 See also Recruitment embargo ; incentivised schemes, 48; McCarthy Report recommendations, 49; total reductions (2008-2013), 47, 128 Public Service Organisation Review Group (1966), 34 Public Service Organisation Review Group (1969), 146 Public service pay See Pay; Pay agreements;Pay cuts Public service paybill, 72, 115, 130, 166, 167 reduction in, 131f, 165, 171 Public Service Pay Commission, 188 Public Service Reform Fellowship, 16, 17 Public Service Reform Plan (2011), 113, 116, 141, 148, 159, 175, 200, 218, 229, 238, 241, 249 agency rationalisation schedule, 131, 133 decentralisation, ending of,, 115 Department of the Taoiseach, role of,, 117 implementation and management, 112, 115, 116, 119; governance structure, 116, 118f, 119, 136 See also Cabinet Committee on Public Service Reform ; local government reform, 116; Integrated Reform Delivery Plans, 119; internal co-oordination, 127; reform delivery board, 118, 130; strategies, 119 key themes, 115, 133 performance budgeting, 195 political reforms, 233, 236 Public Service Reform Plan (2014), 123, 138, 145 Public Service Stability Agreements See Haddington Road Agreement; Lansdowne Road Agreement Public Service Transformation, 49, 85 Public service unions See Trade unions Punctuated equilibrium, 11, 12 Q Quality Customer Service Initiative, 38 R Rational choice, 11 Rationalisation projects, 17 See also State agency rationalisation Index RDO See Reform Delivery Office Rechsstaat administrative systems, 36 Recruitment, 123, 160 civil service appointments See Civil service external appointments, 96, 187, 213, 228 moratorium See Recruitment embargo Recruitment embargo, 123, 128, 130, 145, 167, 219, 231 consequences of, 172 relaxation of, 210 Redeployment, 45, 51, 53, 129, 158, 180, 182 Redundancies, 128, 192, 267 compulsory, 50, 128, 171, 181 Reform culture, 262 Reform delivery office (RDO), 17, 91, 110, 118, 119 civil service renewal, and, 121, 214, 216 director, 104, 111 Public Service Reform Plan 2011, implementation of, 113, 116 shared services office See Shared Services Transformation Office Reform of Irish public service, 2, 17, 32, 43, 94 See also Cabinet Committee on Public Service Reform; Department of Public Expenditure and Reform; Public Service Reform Plan (2011); Wright Report (2010) Independence to 1990, 32, 36, 258, 272 lessons from, 257 political parties and, 37, 265, 269 See also Programme for Government (2011–2016) public management reforms (19902008), 38 295 reform success, variability of, 265, 266 Reform paradigms, See also New Public Management Regional development, 36 Registrar of Lobbying, 242 Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015, 237, 241 Regulatory Impact Assessments (RIAs), 65 Regulatory reform, 112 Relocation programme See Decentralisation Renewal See Civil service renewal Renewal Programme Development Office (DPER), 217 Republic of Ireland, Restrictive practices, 52 Retirement age, 49 See also Early retirement scheme; Pensions Revenue Commissioners, 80, 81, 86 Revenue Commissioners Order 1923, 80 Revenues (2006-2015), 46, 78, 147, 170, 197, 208f forecasts, 205 raising of, 69, 202 See also Taxation responsibility for, 60 Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector, 49 Reynolds, Albert, 38 Rhodes, R.A.W., 13 S Sabatier, P.A., 10 Schools, 65 Seanad Éireann, 27, 86 Secretaries-General, 14, 15, 51, 214, 215, 217 accountability, 36, 37, 85, 132 advisory group, 118, 119 296 Index advisory and managerial roles, 39 appointment, 105 co-ordinating group, 38 performance management system, 217 Secretary to the Government, 156 Senior Public Service (SPS), 43, 48, 51, 66, 94, 112, 218 Senior Responsible Officers, 112, 138 Service delivery, 53, 120 Service outcome improvement, 132 Serving the Country Better (1985), 35 Shared Service Centres (SSCs), 133, 137, 138, 145, 265 Shared services, 17, 53, 101, 104, 115, 121, 123, 127, 160, 250 data breaches, 139 Shared Services Transformation Manager, 136, 139 Shared Services Transformation Office, 136, 137 Shore, C and Nugent, S., 15 Sick leave arrangements, 131, 160 Simon, Herbert A., 11 Single European Market, 37, 193 Single labour market, 129, 171 Sinn Féin, 30, 85 Small and medium enterprises (SMEs), 140, 144 Social expenditure, 256 Social housing, 264 Social partnership agreements, 37, 39, 44, 47, 49, 72, 82, 94, 112, 166, 169 Social welfare activation measures, 52 Sociological institutionalism, 11 SOEs See State-owned enterprises Special advisers See Political/special advisers Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes, 47 Spring Economic Statement, 186, 205 Stability and Growth Pact (EU), 132, 195, 196, 201, 264 Stability Programme Update, 186, 196, 201 Standards in Public Office Commission, 234, 242, 250 State agencies, 8, 28, 41, 44, 115, 138, 218 accountability, 37, 132, 143 autonomy, 44 boards of directors See State boards creation and operation of, 48, 133, 172 governance, 13, 44, 45, 133, 136, 138 growth in, 41f, 42f, 97 managers, 65, 138 performance dialogue, 146 reduction in numbers See Agency rationalisation responsibility for, 72 sub-national, 151 State agency rationalisation, 17, 101, 127, 131, 148f, 149, 151 abolitions, 133 closures, 33, 47, 131, 147 guiding principles, 147 legislation, 142 mergers, 129, 131, 147, 152, 161n State asset disposal, 153–155 State boards, 72, 146 appointments to, 18, 41, 72, 235, 245, 266 State capacity See Capacity State laboratory, 75 State-owned enterprises (SOEs), 127, 152–154 shareholder management, 152, 154 State retrenchment, 1, 165, 257, 266 Statute law revision, 113, 238 Strategic HR See HR management Index Strategic Management Initiative (SMI), 38, 226 Strengthening Civil Service Accountability and Performance, 223 Strikes See Industrial unrest Structural Funds See under European Union Structural reforms, 52 Supplementary Budget 2009, 48 Supreme Court, 27, 73, 236 Sweden, 55 Swimmer, Gene, 12 T Tánaiste, 69, 155 Taoiseach, 28, 39, 54n, 65, 111, 147 See also Department of the Taoiseach Task Force on Strengthening Economic Governance in the EU (European Council), 201 Taxation, 72, 77, 81, 185, 194, 202 See also Revenue Commissioners Tax-base, 197 Tax increases, 193 Technology, 115 See also IT infrastructure Telephony system, 146 TFS reform plan See Transforming Public Services (2008) Thain, C and Wright, M., 12 Theoretical influences, 10 Toland Report (2014), 109, 228 Top Level Appointments Commission (TLAC), 36, 48, 96, 218, 266 Towards 2016, 47 Town and borough councils, abolition of, 152, 234 TPS See Transforming Public Services (2008) 297 Trade unions, 49, 111, 166, 169, 177, 179 See also Industrial relations; Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU); Pay agreements contribution to national recovery, 199 Transforming Public Services (2008), 44, 48, 94, 112, 113, 147 Transparency, 72, 110 See also OTA reforms Treasury, British See United Kingdom/Britain Tribunals of Inquiry, 89n, 234, 238 Troika loan programme, 3, 65, 69, 127, 129, 132, 154, 173, 197, 199, 205, 263 economic policy framework, 205 elements of agreement, 53 exit from, 69, 182, 260 management of reforms, 91 See also Economic Management Council (EMC) memorandum of understanding, 76n, 211 post-programe ‘surveillance visits, 161n reform measures, 50, 116, 129, 130, 171, 180, 198, 201, 260; budgetary reforms, 198 reporting approach, 101 Twitter accounts, 110 U Unemployment, 46, 47, 51, 107, 131, 256 United Kingdom/Britain, 12, 32 bilateral loan to Ireland, 55n British Treasury, 12, 63 civil service, 28, 32, 104 Committee on the Civil Service, 35 HR Excellence Awards, 231 298 Index political-administrative model See Westminster/Whitehall model Provisional Government (Transfer of Functions) Order 1922, 62 United States, 6, 46, 63 Universal public health insurance, 264 V Value-for-money reviews, 48, 84 Values, 43, 132 Village life, Voluntary redundancies, 130, 192n W Walshe, J., 106 Waste management services, 134 Water charges, 185 Watt, Robert (Secretary-General, DPER), 97, 114 See also Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Weberian-inspired reform, Websites, 51, 110, 130, 201, 245, 247 Westminster/Whitehall model, 3, 28, 32, 39, 87 Whistleblowing See Protected disclosures Whole-of-government reform, 4, 6, 43, 125, 135, 258, 265, 267 Wood, E.J., 15 Work practices, reform of, 53, 172 Working Group on the Accountability of Secretaries-General and Accounting Officers, 39 Working hours, 175, 180 Work practices, reform of, 53, 172 World Bank, Wright Report (2010), 50, 65, 93, 100, 206, 229 ... spending after a deep and existential economic crisis, whilst also pursuing the most ambitious public sector reform agenda in Ireland s history The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and. .. Ireland (2009) contains a single overview chapter on the bureaucracy in the Republic of Ireland and 8 M MacCARTHAIGH Northern Ireland The contributors to Adshead and Millar’s Public Administration... 253) In other words, increasing returns and positive feedback sustain and reinforce institutional trajectories The cost of exiting these self-reinforcing mechanisms increases over time and can