Foreword

The current multi-faceted and global crises that governments are facing, from the pandemic to climate change to the impact of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, have put into question traditional ways of undertaking policy development in many countries around the world, including Ireland. Addressing these challenges requires rethinking the ways in which policies are designed, co-ordinated, implemented and evaluated. Reflection and innovation on policy development is needed to not only develop good policies but also ensure that these are legitimate to different audiences from ministers to citizens and sustainable in their implementation. Governments need to have the right tools at hand so that their policy development systems are able to adapt and change at pace and deliver policy solutions that have a real and immediate impact on societal well-being.

It is in this context that Ireland requested support from the European Commission Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support and the OECD to increase the government’s ability to develop and deliver on complex policies relating to climate change, digitalisation, demographic changes, housing and homelessness, globalisation, and long-term healthcare and to contribute to future-proofing such policies through strategic foresight. The “Strengthening Policy Development and Foresight in the Irish Public Service” project contributes to this goal by providing public servants with the tools, knowledge and skills to strengthen their policy development and implementation capacities.

This assessment report is a core output of this project and analyses the policy development process in Ireland. It focusses on three main areas: evidence, implementation, and legitimacy. It also discusses the skills, capacities, methods and tools that are currently in place in the Irish public sector and which support effective policy development. The report highlights Ireland’s strengths, identifies gaps, provides examples of good practices, and suggests a number of areas of opportunity and action to bolster the policy development system and improve policymaking.

This report was prepared under the auspices of the OECD’s Public Governance Committee and forms part of the Public Governance Directorate’s engagement with Ireland. It draws on the OECD’s expertise on public governance, including its work on centres of government. The evidence and data collected for this report contributes to the OECD‘s broader programme of work on effective, innovative, fit-for-the-future and digitally-enabled government and citizens-centred services, and on reinforcing trust in government. The OECD stands ready to further support Ireland’s ambition to build an innovative, professional and agile civil service that improves the lives of the people of Ireland through excellence in service delivery and strategic policy development, notably through the implementation of the recommendations of the report.

The project “Strengthening Policy Development and Foresight in the Irish Public Service” in Ireland was funded by the European Union via the Structural Reform Support Programme (Project 21IE08 - REFORM/IM2021/005). The action was funded by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument, and implemented by the OECD, in co-operation with the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support of the European Commission. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.

The publication was approved and declassified by the Public Governance Committee on 2 May 2023 and subsequently prepared for publication by the Secretariat.