Crises Will Never Be Dealt With Unless There Are Profound Changes in Culture
The crises that face this country will never be dealt with unless culture and values undergo profound change said the Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly in a presentation to the Governance Forum/ CIPFA Conference, 9 March 2010
In a paper entitled In the Public Interest: Lessons from the Ombudsman’s Experience, Emily O’Reilly said the work of the Ombudsman’s Office “has been about nothing less than the transformation of the culture of the public service, turning it away from the inward gaze and protection of self and forcing it instead to direct that gaze towards the public and their needs”.
In her view the economic and political crises that face the country will never be dealt with unless the culture and values of the political and administrative classes undergo profound change. Old cultures and values still nestle largely undisturbed at the heart of the administration.
An investigation by an Ombudsman is a microcosm of the fault lines within our system. The recommendations in her 2009 report, “Lost at Sea”, remain rejected following a Dáil vote not to refer the report to the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for further deliberation.
The events around her recommendation are an illustration of how the model of government set out in the Irish Constitution has become more of a fiction than a reality. In practice the Dáil, and to a slightly lesser extent the Seanad, is controlled very firmly by the Government parties through the operation of the whip system. For all practical purposes “parliament in Ireland has been side-lined and is no longer in a position to hold the executive to account”
Ms O’Reilly said that tinkering with the nuts and bolts of government, in the absence of reforming parliament, is not enough: it is to overlook the elephant in the corner.