TK Whitaker was arguably Ireland’s most influential civil servant. He understood the need to take risks and it was his analysis of the stark choice facing Ireland in the 1950s that laid the foundations for the State’s subsequent economic progress.
Whitaker’s heirs are now to be challenged to embrace more risk as part of the solution to the problems success has brought. Public service decision makers will be asked to accept a greater degree of uncertainty about outcomes when making important infrastructure decisions.
Championed by by Minster for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers, the move is an attempt to remedy what is seen as a debilitating yet understandable caution on the part of public officials confronted with complex legal, financial and reputational risks.
Relevant departments and other State agencies will be required to specify the level of risk that they are prepared to accept. It may seem a somewhat counterintuitive approach to encouraging risk taking but it is clearly necessary in order to protect decision makers when risks do not pay off,
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The move coincides with what is arguably a textbook example of how the willingness to accept risk within clearly defined parameters could speed up delivery of big projects. Transport Infrastructure Ireland, the body charged with developing Metrolink, is to buy the Carlton Cinema site and adjacent vacant lots on Dublin’s O’Connell Street from UK developer Hammerson for €80 million. The purchase clears the way for the construction of a new metro station. What happens above ground has yet to be determined.
There are significant risks for the Exchequer inherent in the deal, but they are justified by the wider objective of delivering the Metrolink project, which can deliver enormous economic and social benefits. Similar trade-offs could make a significant impact in other areas of infrastructure, particularly housing. For it all to work, the public servants will need the backing of their political masters, many themselves guilty of letting major projects slide for fear of opposition, or failure.
