Irish Examiner view: We need bold action to address Ireland's infrastructure emergency
ESRI chairman and chairman of UCC’s governing authority Sean O’Driscoll. Picture: Dan Linehan
The comments of Economic and Social Research Institute chairman Sean O’Driscoll in a wide-ranging interview in the Irish Examiner have attracted plenty of attention, and with good reason.
Mr O’Driscoll observed that Ireland’s water, energy, and transport networks face “catastrophic consequences” if “radical and brave decisions are not taken to ensure projects get completed quicker”.
To give him his due, he contributed possible solutions to that situation rather than simply venting his frustrations, advocating for multi-year funding for utilities and major projects, as well as co-operation between local authorities and utility providers. He also suggested informing the EU that Ireland is in the middle of an “infrastructure emergency” to overcome any regulations and red tape.
There will be a chorus of voices, no doubt, pointing out that some of those utilities could do with getting their own house in order, while some local authorities are not displaying urgency in their approach to this issue, to put it kindly.
However, Mr O’Driscoll also identified a parallel issue which is rarely discussed in public — the timidity of the public service.
His argument that public servants are “more afraid of the Public Accounts Committee than they are of the economy declining” is persuasive, as is his conclusion that this “has resulted in paralysis and risk aversion in the system”.
The reasons for that timidity run deep in the culture of the public service. Focusing on modestly sized projects and easily achievable goals may be invaluable to careerists keen on their annual increments, but they are not as helpful to the population at large, which is in dire need of bold action.
In his comments, Mr O’Driscoll also pointed out that some public figures can be reticent about speaking out, for fear of being seen as negative. Yet candour about our problems and articulating possible solutions are surely the only ways to meet our current challenges, which cannot be left to fester. There has been quite enough lassitude and inertia already.
We have seen instances lately of high-profile appointments to State bodies which have come to an abrupt end. Michael Carey resigned recently as chairman of Enterprise Ireland due to his own company’s late filing of accounts, but at least he got to take his place as chairman.
Brendan McDonagh, chief executive of the National Asset Management Agency (Nama), was widely tipped to head up the government’s Housing Activation Office (HAO), but last month he withdrew his name from consideration following controversy over his €430,000 salary.
Now comes news of another high-profile appointment to a State body. Paul Reid, former head of the HSE, is set to become chairperson of An Coimisiún Pleanála, the planning authority which is to replace An Bord Pleanála.
Reid was the chief executive of Fingal County Council from 2014 to 2019 and is a member of the board of Uisce Éireann, but most readers will remember him as the director general of the HSE from 2019 to 2022.
His career has not been without controversy since his stint with the HSE — when he was appointed chair of the Citizens Assembly on Drugs in 2023, for instance, one TD said it was a “terrible appointment”, though Mr Reid responded by pointing to his experience with both the HSE and Fingal County Council.
For many observers, however, his appointment to An Coimisiún Pleanála will have little to do with his personal abilities and track record.
Such an appointment will give critics plenty of ammunition to mutter “jobs for the boys” from the sidelines, while he goes about chairing a new body tasked with restoring vigour and public trust in the Irish planning system.
In yesterday’s edition, Sean O’Driscoll of the ESRI called for radical action to address some of the most serious issues facing modern Ireland. Recycling leaders in a version of musical chairs for public bodies is the antithesis of radical action.
There have been warnings about the risks posed by ketamine after research from the Netherlands revealed an increase in the number of first aid incidents in that country involving the drug, often in combination with other substances.
The HSE has stated there “is an ongoing concern in relation to ketamine use among young people”, and those concerns are well founded. Ketamine has been figuring in the headlines recently for all the wrong reasons.
For instance, the HSE’s statement coincided with news from California that a doctor is to plead guilty to supplying Friends star Matthew Perry with ketamine, in the weeks before the actor’s death from an overdose. In addition, The New York Times reported recently that Elon Musk — owner of X and previously a backer of US president Donald Trump — had told people he was taking so much ketamine that it was affecting his bladder, a known effect of chronic use. Mr Musk denied the story and has posted results of his drug tests online, which have been negative for illegal substances.
It seems counterintuitive that a drug with such negative associations would be used so widely, but the HSE is correct to stress the significance of more potent strains of ketamine being available. Its popularity among young people, particularly during music festival season, is a cause for concern.
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