The stone of the Court of Auditors in Paris is graced by the following phrase drawn from the French Constitution of August 1789, “La societé a la droit de demander compte a tout agente public de son administration”.
The sentiment expressed, that every citizen has the right to an accountable public service, remain as true today as when they were first crafted during that tumultuous summer over 200 years ago.
I was struck by the resonance of these words yesterday when I took part in the Open Government Partnership conference hosted by my French colleague, Madame Marylise Lebranchu on the technical sounding but highly relevant topic of Open Data.
The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance. Open Data is about making official data much more accessible to both citizens and businesses.
My proposals for the development of Open Data in Ireland are closely aligned to the aims and goals of the OGP. Ireland intends to achieve full membership of OGP later this year following completion – in collaboration with civil society representatives – of its first OGP National Action Plan.
From Paris I travelled to Athens, the cradle of democracy, which gave birth to many of the ideas that still underpin the reform of government and politics across Europe more than 2,000 years later. I was there to take part in a meeting of EU ministers under the chairmanship of the Greek Presidency which discussed how the European Structural & Investment Funds can be used to support the Europe 2020 objectives of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.
Structural Funds, at €325 billion, represent one third of the EU’s budget for the next seven years. The Irish Government successfully secured €1.2billion of Cohesion policy funding for the period which represents an increase of 8% in real terms over the 2007-2013 programming period, against the background of an overall reduction of 8% in the overall EU budget for Cohesion policy.
This funding will assist us in delivering on our stated goals of combatting long-term and youth unemployment; achieving social inclusion; promoting R&D investment and fostering a competitive business sector and a resource-efficient, environmentally-friendly economy.
Tonight, I will travel back home to Wexford, where, fanned by flames of Revolution in America and France, began the rebellion of 1798, led by the United Irishmen. It was an attempt to secure a democratic and equal Ireland and was the start of a 125 year battle for Irish democracy and independence which ended with the meeting of the first Dáil on 21 January 1919.
Our thirst for democracy has not ended in Ireland. The democratic revolution at the ballot boxes in 2011 saw the establishment of the 31st Dáil. My own Department was specifically created to ensure effective reform of the both the administrative and political systems. To that end, we have delivered 17 pieces of reforming legislation, with further legislation on important matters such as the Regulation of Lobbyists and Whistle-blowing to come this year. In less than a fortnight, Ireland will host a European-level Open Government Partnership conference.
The principles of August 1789 hold true. Every citizen has the right to an accountable public service. The Reform Agenda which I and my Department are advancing is working to deliver that end.
Brendan Howlin TD, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
Image courtesy of thephotoholic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net


