Good morning

On behalf of the OGP community in Ireland, I would like to welcome each one of you to the OGP Europe Regional Meeting.

I would like to extend a particular welcome to Dublin Castle to the Ministers, civil society representatives, officials and citizens representing over thirty countries that have travelled to be here for this meeting.

Europe Regional Meeting

As you know, the Europe Regional Meeting is taking place immediately following the Asia Pacific Regional Meeting hosted by Indonesia in Bali highlighting the global reach of the Open Government Partnership.

I am certain that the key themes that we will be exploring together over the next two days in Dublin will resonate strongly with those discussed in Bali notwithstanding the 12,000 kilometres distance between us.

I understand that the central objectives of yesterday’s Civil Society day held in the Chester Beatty Library – a few minutes stroll from where we are in Dublin Castle this morning – coincide with those in Bali and correspond with what will comprise our agenda here at the Europe conference.

Why is OGP Important?

At the outset, I would like to take this opportunity to share with you why I believe what we are seeking to do here over the next two days is so important.

You will have noticed the election posters on lamp-posts for candidates for the forthcoming local government and European Parliament elections in Ireland at the end of this month.

The practice may seem a little strange in today’s era of instantaneous contact and communication but it’s a long-established element of our political culture in Ireland.

It provides a vital reminder to us of the ultimate accountability of all political representatives to citizens at the ballot box and the legitimacy of political decision-making that flows from this.

It also reinforces the vital message that political legitimacy and the resilience of the democratic system generally can be enhanced through a strong and sustained engagement with OGP objectives of openness, transparency and accountability.

Rationale for Ireland’s OGP Participation

At the recent Open Data to Open Government conference in Paris – at which the announcement was made of France’s intention to become the sixty-fourth member of the OGP – I outlined the main reasons for Ireland’s proposed participation in the OGP.

In essence these relate – following the collapse of Ireland’s banking system and economic turbulence in 2008 – to the requirement to re-build trust and confidence in government, politics and the democratic system here in Ireland.

Bringing Government and Citizens Together

The importance of bringing government closer to citizens is a principle understood by both governments and civil society across the world.

It is fundamental to securing mature and informed public and political debate.

The challenge is of course in successfully bringing this about.

Which leads to the core question for this meeting which is how can the OGP process help make it happen.

In Ireland – as is the case broadly across the EU and Europe – trust and confidence in government and politics is low.

While overall economic conditions, high unemployment and the genuine financial hardship that households are experiencing explain part of this story.

There are clearly more fundamental and deep-rooted factors at work.

It is something of an irony that in an era where technological and ICT developments have brought a world of information literally to people’s finger-tips, the distance between governments and the governed often never seemed greater.

I believe that the OGP is a powerful tool to start breaking down those barriers.

As you all know OGP is a broad and flexible framework that allows each country determine its own path within the broad parameters set by overall OGP model.

The OGP process also fully recognises while that no two participating countries are the same and each face different challenges, that we can learn much from each other’s unique experiences.

It also places in front of all of us the common goal of open, transparent and accountable public governance – a goal that that is arguably the strongest guarantee of sustainable economic growth, political stability and democracy.

Promoting Dialogue between Governments and their Citizens

The OGP process obviously also throws up significant challenges – both for government and civil society – particularly at the point that the theory of Open Government needs to be translated into the concrete reality of National Action Plans.

This process – rather than ending in disagreement – can often help inspire a dialogue that helps to identify and clarify the competing and conflicting objectives that underlie the different standpoints of both sets of participants.

Mutual understanding and respect is a critical success factor.

I am delighted that so many of the sessions organised for this meeting are not only led by but include very substantial input from civil society.

All of those sessions – without exception – while exploring many different and diverse aspects and dimensions to the OGP pose an underlying question for all of us.

How can the partnership approach between civil society and government at a national level and internationally provide real impetus and concrete momentum to the achievement of OGP objectives.

Overall Theme of the Meeting

The overall theme we have adopted for the meeting:-

“Open Government as a cornerstone of good governance at local, national and European level”.

seeks to encapsulate our level of ambition for Open Government generally and indeed for the Europe Regional Meeting. 

It also tries to capture the convergence that I believe is urgently needed at local and national government level and also in our international institutions towards open government principles and practices.

This convergence must also move beyond government and civil society to encompass other key stakeholders in society, business, trade unions and the voluntary and community sectors.

National Action Plans

The several sessions on OGP in Action Learning from Others taking place over the two days are a centrepiece of our meeting programme.

They provide a dynamic and interactive forum for government representatives and civil society organisations to share their perspectives, ideas and experiences on how OGP can become more impactful at national level.

These peer learning sessions in which Ireland is participating later today will also mark the formal launch of Ireland’s draft National Action Plan for a further round of public consultation.

As I am sure is the case in all of your countries, the preparation of Action Plans is a process through which a balance needs to be struck.

This balance centres on the objectives and priorities of both the government and the citizen and civil society participants.

That balance is essential in the interest of agreeing what is intended to be an ambitious but implementable and realistic set of measures.

I look forward to learning from others that have travelled  or are travelling that path, of how the process of developing National Action Plans can best strike that difficult balance.

Open Data and Corporate Accountability

Our agenda contains a number of sessions relating to whole area of Open Data – – its potential economic impact;

– its role in fostering innovation;

– in boosting transparency; and

– also in strengthening accountability through the publication of performance information.

There is also a broader set of very significant issues to be engaged with relating to open corporate practices and more effective corporate accountability in particular in the context of the digital economy.

Citizen Participation

Strengthening the voice of citizens and civil society is a prerequisite from the sustainability of the OGP process.

This is an area which I hope that the meeting will provide all of us with wise advice and guidance for the future drawn from successful and not-so-successful lessons of the past – both in terms of OGP and outside of it.

In terms of Ireland’s experience we have the recent and very positive experience of the Constitutional Convention as well as considerably less successful models during the boom years that preceded our economic collapse.

International Institutions

A key feature of the programme also relates to consideration of the role which international institutions in Europe, for example, the European Union, the Council of Europe and the OECD as well as the EU Presidency can play in advancing open government objectives.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I very much look forward to hearing from you the specific reasons why open government objectives have won the commitment of governments and excite the enthusiasm of civil society across Europe and beyond.

I hope that all of our participation at this meeting deepens our understanding and confidence in the OGP process.

And that it helps us to develop a shared analysis of what our objectives and priorities should be – both at national and international level – in ensuring public governance is open, responsive and accountable.

Our work now begins this morning to seek to deliver these crucial goals.