Political Analysis: The Enterprise Strategy Group Report has given the Government serious food for thought over the summer months, writes Mark Hennessy, Political Correspondent.
Reading the opening pages of the Enterprise Strategy Group Report, one could have been forgiven for thinking that one was reading part of Fianna Fáil's 2002 General Election manifesto.
Noting that employment in the Republic of Ireland had jumped by 600,000 in a decade, it lauded the quadrupling of exports and the doubling in gross national product.
Though some success was down to international factors, good "strategic policy decisions" since the 1960s, low taxes and public finance reform had all played their part, it said.
However, the plaudits for the Government, and its predecessors, from the high-powered body are quickly followed by strong, though politely-expressed criticisms.
The delivery of infrastructure is a mess, universities are not ready to meet future needs, every worker under 40 needs to improve their skills urgently, while Government Departments are not sufficiently imbued with the enterprise culture.
In particular, the expert group is sharply critical of the National Development Plan, initiated with such a fanfare back in 1999.
"While the next few years should see considerable improvements in physical infrastructure, substantial elements of the NDP will not be completed before 2006 - for example, the roads programme is behind schedule," the report reads.
Describing high-quality roads as "critical" for regional development, the report said key routes between Dublin and Belfast, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford should be prioritised.
Just one of these roads, the report pointedly notes, is currently scheduled for completion within the lifetime of the National Development Plan.
"Many of the major infrastructure projects in Ireland have been subject to delays and overruns in time and cost. While the development planning process is the cause of some delays, project planning, budgeting and project management appear to be inadequate when compared with other countries.
"In some projects, too many State bodies are involved without the required level of co-operation," said the report, before it went on to make recommendations.
"Each infrastructure project should be the responsibility of a single department or agency. Specific guidelines for consultation between agencies should be developed to clarify their respective remits and responsibilities.
"Government departments and agencies should ensure that they have adequate planning and project management skills to manage infrastructure," it said.
Furthermore, the Government should set up a special High Court division to deal with judicial reviews of major infrastructural project and third-planning appeals.
There is no indication, however, that the Government has a magic wand ready to deal with planning log-jams. If anything, the evidence is to the contrary.
Last October, the Minister for the Environment heralded the creation of a National Infrastructure Board to rule on the planning requirements of "strategically-important" infrastructure.
The draft heads of legislation would be brought to the Cabinet before Christmas, he said. Ten months on the legislation is still deep in the bowels of the Department of the Environment.
Not only that, but interested parties, such as the Irish Business and Employers Confederation, are still completely in the dark about the scale of its ambitions.
Dealing with broadband, the report is blunt: Ireland's high-speed Internet services are expensive, hard to get and not faced with enough competition.
Meanwhile, it points out that Ireland is 15th of 16 on the OECD's competitiveness league. Too many powerful barons rule in the professions.
The group's demand for change is all very well but forcing through change against the wishes of powerful vested groups is a different ballgame, as can be seen by the hospitals' consultants reluctance to cede power in the health service. In the future, it said, a modern public service will be critical if the Republic of Ireland's economy is to continue to prosper in an increasingly globalised, competitive world.
"The delivery of agile, responsive, efficient and cost-effective Government remains both a strategic imperative and a potential source of competitiveness for the Irish economy," it said.
Though "strong progress" has been achieved in a decade of strategic management change, it would appear that the Civil Service is still far from the state of readiness deemed acceptable by the Enterprise Strategy Group chairman, Mr Eoin O'Driscoll, and his colleagues. The modernisation programme is "still far from complete" in the finance, human resources and information systems' sections of Government Departments.
Employment rules in the Civil Service are slowing progress: "The limitation on secretaries general with regard to the direct employment and dismissal of staff hinders progress towards modernising the public sector.
"Personnel with the requisite skills must be available to deliver the policy objectives set for the public services organisation and managers should be free to recruit, retrain and reallocate staff to ensure effective performance.
"Equally, in specific instances of persistent under-performance and following due process, the effects on finite resources of continuing to retain an underperformer in employment needs to be recognised and addressed," it went on.
In future, a special committee of six departmental secretaries general should meet regularly to drive "the enterprise agenda" throughout the Government.
This group, including the Civil Service heads from Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Education and Science, Finance, Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Agriculture and Food, should report to a special Cabinet sub-committee.
"This will ensure cohesion across government departments in dealing with enterprise needs, example, investment in R&D, broadband roll-out, energy and priorities for access infrastructure.
"This should help to overcome rigidities across the different departments, prioritise enterprise needs and ensure that refocusing of priorities can be accommodated in line with changing demands," it said.