Ireland

Ireland represents a complex and hybrid policy and political culture, depending on the area it can be described as a “laggard” or “leader.” The power of government is effectively limited by robust democratic accountability mechanisms at both societal and state levels, although local government remains weak. Vertical accountability, as well as indicators for the quality of elections, political competition, and free and fair elections, are strong. The 2023 establishment of the Electoral Commission is expected to bolster this further. However, issues of gender, ethnic, class, and other equalities remain inadequately addressed.

The capacity of political parties to represent key societal interests is fragmenting, with a rise in far-right party activity, though they have yet to secure electoral success. Diagonal accountability is upheld by effective non-state actors, but the capacity for social documentation needs improvement. The media is relatively free and pluralistic, though it could benefit from more diversity in ownership and participation. Social media and disinformation pose significant challenges, although Ireland is in a unique position to lead the EU in tackling these issues. Horizontal accountability has been reinforced through independent oversight bodies, though social policy oversight remains weak. The late 2023 Judicial Appointments Act aims to strengthen confidence in the judiciary.

Ireland’s capacity for foresighted governance is limited, with policymaking typically focused on short- and medium-term goals, rarely employing multiple scenarios, which increases uncertainty and risks. Silo thinking is prevalent, technical capacities are often limited, and both horizontal and vertical integration face challenges. Despite these issues, Ireland has a good track record of consensus-building through social partnership.

The use of evidence in policymaking is fragmented, and the quality of evidence varies substantially. Knowledge cultures often prioritize reductive, short-term analyses over holistic, long-term ones. Monodisciplinary inquiry is common, whereas inter- and transdisciplinary approaches would be more beneficial, leading to a lack of diversity in thought and values, and excluding some life experiences from policy dialogue. Government communication is complicated by the presence of three coalition partners.

Ireland’s record on sustainable policymaking reveals significant social, environmental, and economic challenges. Policies often fail to address underlying systemic issues, favoring technological and efficiency solutions, resulting in poor outcomes in climate action, biodiversity, and environmental pressures on air, water, and soil. This approach also fails to outline the social and economic benefits of transformative change.

Labor market institutions and public employment services are relatively well-developed, but there is no national service, and institutions struggle to address skills gaps and achieve inclusive and adaptive labor markets. Income taxation is progressive, but indirect taxation is not, and over-dependence on corporate tax and volatility undermines tax sustainability. Ireland’s tax haven qualities in corporate tax pose significant international tax justice issues. While the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and the Parliamentary Budget Office promote sustainable budget planning, more efforts are needed for sustainable fiscal management. The new Research and Innovation Agency (to replace IRC and SFI) must better align with sustainability goals to increase funding and research breadth, ideally focusing on transformations. Education policy in Ireland is progressive but requires more investment and a stronger focus on equality.

Human needs and well-being can be better supported through investment in services with significant deficits, such as housing, care, health, and active and public transport. Gender equality is improving, but pay and pension gaps remain, and challenges persist in relation to violence, care and political participation. More efforts are needed to integrate migrants into society and the labor market, while asylum policy and practice remain deeply problematic from an integration perspective.

Ireland’s record on and capacity for environmental sustainability is worrying, with serious concerns that national and sectoral targets will not be met. While progress has been made with renewables, agriculture and transport are particularly problematic. Climate action is overly reliant on technology, with no credible plan for achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Biodiversity performance is particularly weak, with poor implementation of measures to conserve, protect, and enhance ecosystems and biodiversity, and implement relevant EU directives.