‘Trust in public services collapsed’

TRUST in public services has collapsed during the recession, with confidence lower than in Greece, a conference heard yesterday.

The Institute of Public Administration (IPA) conference in Dublin also heard former taoiseach John Bruton claim “that gap between spending and revenues can be bridged” if Ireland faces its responsibilities as a sovereign democracy.

On the subject of public services, Muiris MacCarthaigh, research division of the IPA, said high profile scandals and malpractice had undermined faith in the public sector.

“The reality is there has never been a greater number of public services provided by the state,” he said. “The crux is our system of performance reporting is underdeveloped. To increase trust, much more must be done to demonstrate accountability and good performance to promote the practice of public service.”

Other speakers included Professor Brigid Laffan of UCD, who said there was an urgent need for public service renewal, and Kieran Mulvey, chief executive of the Labour Relations Commission, who said public services needed to change.

Prof Laffan said: “The 2008 OECD report Towards an Integrated Public Service was followed rapidly by the creation of a Task Force on Transforming Public Services. Yet two years on from the publication of the OECD report there is little evidence of urgency in securing change notwithstanding the crisis in the public finances.”