Reforming the Irish Public Service: A Multiple Streams Perspective

Administration, 2017, Vol. 65 (2): 145-64

20 Pages Posted: 18 Jan 2019

Date Written: May 23, 2017

Abstract

Following the Irish general election of 2011, a new ministry emerged which sought to combine public expenditure, industrial relations and public sector reform. The creation of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) represented a major departure in Irish administrative history, not least because it introduced a new actor at the heart of Irish government, but also for the range of tasks with which it was endowed. This article provides an administrative reform context for the creation of DPER before examining its work across three domains: industrial relations, financial management reform and administrative reform. Drawing on Kingdon’s ‘multiple streams’ model of policy change, the article argues that reform efforts across all three were made possible by the ‘window of opportunity’ presented by the department’s creation and the coming together of problems, policies and politics in respect of public service reform.

Keywords: Ireland; public administration; global financial crisis; public service reform; multiple streams

JEL Classification: H11

Suggested Citation

MacCarthaigh, Muiris, Reforming the Irish Public Service: A Multiple Streams Perspective (May 23, 2017). Administration, 2017, Vol. 65 (2): 145-64, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3312196

Muiris MacCarthaigh (Contact Author)

Queen's University Belfast ( email )

25 University Square
Belfast, BT7 1NN
Ireland

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