A Ministry for Public Sector Reform

Abstract

This chapter presents a detailed account of the critical juncture in the Irish response to the global financial crisis that was the creation of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. It follows the journey from the idea conceived by a number of political parties during the early years of the crisis of a new organizational entity for reforming the Irish public sector, to the process of sculpting it out of the existing state machinery. The chapter considers the political and administrative pressures framing the eventual shape and scope of the Department’s role, and the intense behind-the-scenes work that took place within the civil service prior to and immediately after General Election 2011 to prepare for and then create the Department. The chapter also draws attention to the key roles—expenditure control, public service reform and industrial relations—bestowed on the Department, and how these compare with equivalent institutional arrangements elsewhere.