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Ireland

Ireland and the Open Government Partnership

Brendan Howlin|

 Brendan Howlin’s article was originally posted on website of the Department for Public Expenditure and Reform. It has been cross-posted here with his department’s permission. The announcement concerning Ireland’s decision to participate in OGP can be found here.

There is not a crime, there is not a dodge, there is not a trick, there is not a swindle…which does not live by secrecy.

― Joseph Pulitzer

As a former teacher I know that in the classroom creativity flourishes and learning is enhanced when openness and dialogue are supported and encouraged. In my career as a political representative – both inside and outside Government – this vital lesson has been reinforced subsequently on very many occasions. Now as the Minister responsible for overseeing reform I know that removing inefficiencies, improving democracy and generating sustainable growth and development is best achieved through greater openness, transparency and accountability.  Openness generates trust in government and paves the way for meaningful participation by citizens and more informed and better policy choices. The economic crisis exposed a glaring lack of openness, transparency and indeed accountability in the Irish political landscape.  The Nyberg Report into the collapse of the Irish banking system is replete with references to how ‘herding’, ‘groupthink’ and resistance to contrarian views contributed to the severity of the crisis. Just like in the classroom I know that good ideas can come from everywhere and my longstanding experience in many different contexts is that a more open and what can be termed a more ‘competitive’ or ‘contestable’ marketplace for public debate on policy issues affords greater opportunity for good ideas to challenge bad ones.

That is why since the formation of the 31st Dáil my Government colleagues and I have been working energetically in pursuit of its open government objectives.  A wave of reforms envisaged in the Programme for Government is currently well underway:

  • Legislation to allow parliamentary committees carry out in inquiries into matters of public importance was published last week.
  • The General Scheme of a Lobbying Regulation Bill was recently published and drafting of the Bill has commenced.
  • I expect to bring comprehensive whistleblower legislation, the Protected Disclosures Bill to Government shortly to seek approval for its publication.
  • The drafting of the Freedom of Information Bill restoring the legislation and extending it to all public bodies is at an advanced stage.
  • A consultation paper on strengthening civil service accountability is being finalised.

We do, however, need to consider our next steps.  The UCD political scientist, Niamh Hardiman in the concluding contribution to 2012 book Irish Governance in Crisis which she edited, highlighted the urgent need to strengthen the learning capacity of Ireland’s political institutions ensuring that they not only learn from past mistakes but also better anticipate future needs and to act on them in a timely manner. In order to provide further momentum to examination of this important area of government reform I am pleased to be able to announce that I have recently signed a letter of intent committing Ireland to join the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and it has now issued to the Co-Chairs of the OGP, the UK, Indonesia and its Civil Society Chair.

The OGP is a multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance.  The OGP commits governments to: increase the availability of information about government services; support civic partnership; implement the highest standards of professional integrity and to increase new technologies for openness and accountability. Since it was launched in September 2011 by President Obama on the margins of the 66th United Nations General Assembly in New York the OGP has grown to become a truly global initiative with almost 60 countries involved.

Undoubtedly there are diverse reasons as to why so many countries are choosing to participate in the OGP. However one common theme underpinning the OGP is the basic principle that openness, transparency, integrity and accountability of public administration is fundamental to effective public governance and the practice of democracy.

Ireland’s participation in the OGP would be expected to provide an international dimension to many existing national efforts in openness and reform.  It has a clear potential to contribute to Ireland’s economic recovery in view of the evidence that key elements of the open government agenda by strengthening public governance, and the effectiveness of the public institutions, is an important determinant of an economy’s sustainable long‐term growth potential. The OGP will help to challenge us beyond national reform efforts and will not only track what we are doing but more importantly where, we can do more.

Having now issued the letter of intent to join the OGP I look forward to working with citizens, civil society interests and business on the development of Ireland’s first National Action Plan of commitment required for full OGP participation. I hope that civil society and citizens at large will use the OGP as an opportunity not only to encourage greater transparency and to open the doors of government to greater scrutiny but to increase citizen engagement in the reform effort overall.

——– Photo credit: Bridge Liffey by Visentico / Sento via Flickr

Filed Under: Europe National Pledge Public Participation Right to Information
Open Government Partnership