There is a growing concern about the role of the Irish public sector and its effectiveness, efficiency, cost and the value for money it achieves. The case for reform is clear and there is now a visible “burning platform” as the government is currently borrowing approximately €500m per week. The cost of the public service just cannot continue to be met from the revenues available to the exchequer.

People are also demanding that the public service become more accountable and that it deliver more cost-effective and efficient services. So there is a compelling case not just to reform the public service but to use the opportunity to make structural and institutional changes that will help the country reposition itself to compete in an international context.

Reports are not results. There are more than enough reports available that have analysed the issues in detail but they have not been implemented or, if so, only in part. Results are needed now.

Putting new wine in old wineskins rarely works in any organisation. Leaving in place the current structures to deliver the changes required will simply not work, as the system is incapable of delivering the reforms from within. In other successful public-sector reforms, it was the establishment of external oversight bodies, accompanied by the recruitment of new senior people, that drove the process. For example, the establishment of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the recruitment of an external chief constable, together with the establishment of the police ombudsman and external oversight by the policing board has worked well.

People, particularly good leaders, drive change. While there are many talented people working in the civil service, there is a need to broaden its leadership base to include the wider public service and the private and not-for-profit sectors. There are many experienced and talented people who have led significant organisational changes who could be used. Current and future leaders in the public service must be given suitable training and development so they can develop the skills and expertise to drive the changes needed.

For public-sector reform to succeed, everyone has to acknowledge the “burning platform” and the requirement for radical innovation, not slow incremental change. We need strong political leadership, with renewed political oversight by government and the Oireachtas and parallel dramatic changes in the political institutions.

There has to be a strong political mandate for reform and an enthusiastic and supportive public service that is keenly aware of the growing gap between the conditions they enjoy compared to most others in the country. They must be willing to transform themselves and be more publicly accountable.

The contracts enjoyed by public servants make it difficult to drive change if they are opposed to it. I would suggest that consideration be given to introducing renewable five-year contracts. Subject to satisfactory performance over each period, the contract is renewed. If performance is not satisfactory, a process of performance development and improvement could be completed over a specific period. If this process does not yield the required results, and after due process, the contract is not renewed.

There is a need for far greater personal accountability with consequences for public servants, so they can discuss and explain their decisions (and failure to take decisions) and be held accountable.

Finally, we should have a minister for public sector reform to ensure the process is driven at government level. Such a minister would require the visible strong support of the taoiseach and finance minister and should have responsibility for human-resource management, training and development, leadership and organisational development, procurement, information and communications technologies and quality control in ethics, values and customer-services.

Because of the scale of the challenge and its importance, serious efforts should be made to achieve cross-party political support, as happened with the Northern Ireland issue, to ensure that any changes have a chance of lasting.

This is an edited version of a talk at the 2009 MacGill Summer School given by Brendan Tuohy, a former secretary-general in the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. It is published in Ireland’s Economic Crisis — Time to Act(Carysfort Press, €20), edited by Joe Mulholland and Finbarr Bradley

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