Enhance Fiscal Transparency (IE0042)

To introduce Performance Reports on government expenditure, which will show what is achieved with the resources allocated to each spending programme. Objective: To support better resource allocation decision making, and improve people’s understanding of what resources are available and the costs over time, of the various choices involved in public spending. Status quo: Fiscal transparency has been advanced recently by the creation of the website whereyourmoneygoes.gov.ie which tries to make it easier to understand Government spending on public services. The performance budgeting initiative aims to strengthen focus on what is being delivered through that spending on public services and to build this information into the policy-making and accountability processes. At its core it is concerned with ensuring that policy development and resource allocation decisions are better informed. The introduction of the initiative laid the foundation for a more systematic engagement by parliamentarians and the public on the impact of public policies and on resource allocation decisions. The initiative has been subject to ongoing review since its introduction, and has evolved considerably over the last number of years. One of the most significant developments has been the reformatting of the Revised Estimates Volume (REV), published each December, to include performance information. Following the publication of REV 2016, a detailed review was carried out of the performance information provided and detailed feedback was provided to the main Government Departments. A comprehensive guidance note was also developed to assist Departments in selecting and reporting on appropriate performance indicators. Ambition: To provide greater transparency on resource allocation and related public policy decisions and to strengthen focus on what is being delivered through public services, with public funds. Lead implementing organisations: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Timeline: January 2017 to June 2018.
Commitment 9: Enhance Fiscal Transparency OGP values Public accountability. New or ongoing commitment Ongoing Lead implementation organisations Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Other actors involved - government All government departments and public bodies Verifiable and measurable milestones to fulfil the commitment New or ongoing Start date End date The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has proposed to submit a Performance Report to the Oireachtas by end Quarter One each year, starting in 2017. This report will provide information on the performance of each Vote and the linkages between results and allocated resources. It is intended that this will allow for meaningful engagement between the Oireachtas and Government Departments on resource allocation and public policy decisions. New January 2017 June 2018.

9. Enhance Fiscal Transparency

Commitment Text:

Objective: To support better resource allocation decision making, and improve people’s understanding of what resources are available and the costs over time, of the various choices involved in public spending.

Status quo: Fiscal transparency has been advanced recently by the creation of the website whereyourmoneygoes.gov.ie which tries to make it easier to understand Government spending on public services. The performance budgeting initiative aims to strengthen focus on what is being delivered through that spending on public services and to build this information into the policy-making and accountability processes. At its core it is concerned with ensuring that policy development and resource allocation decisions are better informed.

The introduction of the initiative laid the foundation for a more systematic engagement by parliamentarians and the public on the impact of public policies and on resource allocation decisions.

The initiative has been subject to ongoing review since its introduction, and has evolved considerably over the last number of years. One of the most significant developments has been the reformatting of the Revised Estimates Volume (REV), published each December, to include performance information. Following the publication of REV 2016, a detailed review was carried out of the performance information provided and detailed feedback was provided to the main Government Departments.

A comprehensive guidance note was also developed to assist Departments in selecting and reporting on appropriate performance indicators.

Ambition: To provide greater transparency on resource allocation and related public policy decisions and to strengthen focus on what is being delivered through public services, with public funds.

Milestone:

9.1. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has proposed to submit a Performance Report to the Oireachtas by end Quarter One each year, starting in 2017. This report will provide information on the performance of each Vote and the linkages between results and allocated resources. It is intended that this will allow for meaningful engagement between the Oireachtas and Government Departments on resource allocation and public policy decisions.

Responsible institution: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform

Supporting institutions: All government departments and supporting bodies

Start date: January 2017

End date: June 2018

Context and Objectives

In Ireland, the public can see how the state allocates its funds on the ‘Where Your Money Goes’ website, a portal on government spending on public resources. [Note: Available here: http://www.whereyourmoneygoes.gov.ie. ] However, the website lacks information on the performance of government expenditure, or what exactly is being delivered with public funds. This commitment aims to develop a Performance Report to be presented to the Oireachtas (the Irish parliament) by Q1 of each year (starting in 2017) that will provide information on the performance of all the gross spending by government departments and agencies, and the links between the results and allocated resources.

The commitment text as written does not explicitly state that the proposed Performance Report to be presented to parliament will also be made public. Therefore, its OGP value relevance, prima facie, is unclear. However, DPER ultimately published the Performance Report in April 2017 (as explained below in the Completion section), and the information presented to parliament was also made available to the public. The upcoming IRM End of Term Report (which focuses on outcomes of the commitment from implementation as opposed to the commitment design) will reflect this improvement in access to information. While the commitment calls for a verifiable deliverable (the Performance Report) with a specific timeline for the reports to be presented to parliament, the actual contents of the reports are unclear (besides the vague ‘linkages between results and allocated resources’). Thus, the specificity is marked as low. If fully implemented, the commitment could lead to greater transparency in government expenditures, but without guaranteed public scrutiny of the reports, and without a clearly defined mechanism by which citizens can express concerns over the resource allocation, the potential impact is minor.

Completion

The progress made on this commitment has been substantial and it is on schedule. In April 2017, the Minister of DPER, Paschal Donohoe, published the 2016 Public Services Report on the DPER website, focusing on the results delivered in terms of outputs for the following expenditure areas: Social Protection, Health, Education, Justice, Transport, Agriculture, Defence, Enterprise & Innovation, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Climate Action & Environment, and Arts.[Note: This can be found at: http://www.per.gov.ie/en/new-performance-report-will-support-policy-making-increase-awareness-and-enhance-parliamentary-engagement-donohoe/. ] The report provides detailed analysis of expenditures in key budgetary areas such as health. As an example, we see that 16,313 children aged 24 months received the MMR vaccine, which, in terms of impact, represents 92.5 percent of children within this age group. In other cases, however, the data falls short. For example, while it is reported that EUR 43.2 million has been spend on Environment and Waste Management, mostly related to projects supporting waste remediation, it is difficult to assess the impact of this and whether or not more should have been spent.

Early Results

Though not explicitly guaranteed in the commitment, DPER made the 2016 Public Services Report available to the public. This represents a positive step towards greater transparency on resource allocation in Ireland, though an update of the information in the report by civil society or citizens has yet to be seen.

Next Steps

This is an ongoing commitment and, consistent with the statements made in July 2017 by the Secretary General of DPER Robert Watt to the Public Accounts Committee, it is hoped that the report will ‘creat(e) space for enhanced dialogue and more effective parliamentary engagement.’[Note: Watt, Robert, ‘Opening Statement,’ Public Accounts Committee, 6 July 2017, https://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/media/committees/pac/correspondence/2017meetings/meeting45-06072017/PAC32-R-666-A---DPER-Opening-Statement-060717.pdf. ] Given its level of completion, it is not necessary to include this commitment in the next action plan. However, the IRM researcher recommends modifying the commitment to consider how the information used in these reports is deliberated on by citizens, to feed into potential consultations regarding the development of future budgets.

For commitment details, see https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/Ireland_End-Term_...