Delivering Better Government - A Programme of Change for the Irish Civil Service could well be a watershed for Civil Service management in Ireland. But how does it compare with international practice? Will it work? What are the pitfalls to avoid and the implications of change?

Civil Service management practices in countries as diverse as New Zealand, Denmark, the UK and Zambia have been subject to change in recent years. What has been, termed "the new public management" is sweeping the globe. This movement promotes devolution of power within fixed limits to government departments a greater emphasis on results and a move to more flexible working practices. In some ways, Delivering Better Government brings Ireland into line with such developments. However, the Irish programme of change can also be seen as an advance on international practice.

In particular, strategic management is an issue with which many other countries are only beginning to come to terms. Also, the programme relates better to the core values of the public service such as equity and equality than do some of the more fundamentalist reforms in other countries.

Delivering Better Government focuses on the internal management of the Civil Service. The emphasis in the report is on how to manage better the "core" Civil Service.

But will the programme of change work? Judging from the limited impact of some previous reform efforts, such as the 1969 Devlin Report and the 1985 White Paper, Serving the Country Better, there could be grounds for doubt. However, there are a number of signs that this time things will be different. Crucially, there is cross party political support for the changes. The Government has taken on and developed the Strategic Management Initiative started by the previous government. The Taoiseach has indicated his support for the programme. There is also support for the proposed changes from within the Civil Service. Many senior managers who have looked at what is going on elsewhere realise that it is time for chance in Ireland. A recent study of the Australian and New Zealand experience of civil service reform by a group of senior Irish civil servants, published in the IPA journal Administration, is a good example. The programme also puts particular stress on quality of service to the citizen, which should win public support.

HE emphasis in Delivering Better Government on improving personnel and human resource management in the Civil Service is also welcome. Staff make up more than 70 per cent of Civil Service expenditure, yet people management is not handled as well as it could be. The more strategic view of human resource management taken in the programme, and the initiatives proposed in training and development, indicate this issue is high on the agenda.

But the changes arising from Delivering Better Government are more likely to be evolutionary than revolutionary. Changing the way a body as large and diverse as the Civil Service operates takes time. There are also a number of potential pitfalls. Many staff are likely to be sceptical of the programme, given the limited success of past initiatives. It will be necessary to maintain momentum behind the programme. It is also vital that staff are involved it must not be the preserve of politicians and senior mangers. The way in which industrial relations issues are handled will also be crucial.

The main Civil Service unions, while broadly supportive of improved strategic management, have concerns as to how the programme will work. The issue of performance management and the issue of appraisal and rewards will have to be carefully handled. Specifying results and targets, and developing information systems that tell us what is happening, present challenges to many parts of the Civil Service. A combination of hard measures and softer qualitative data are needed. Similarly, any attempt to link individual performance appraisal to pay is fraught with difficulties.

SO what should the Civil Service of the future look like if Developing Better Government is implemented, and how will it differ to clients? Firstly, there should be greater strategic capacity in departments to help government facilitate economic and social development. The Civil Service should become less bureaucratic. Devolution of previously centralised managerial power to the operational level gives managers greater discretion in their use of resources. Multi annual budgets will give more stability to spending decisions and facilitate longer term planning. In return, accountability requirements will increasingly focus on results rather than methods and procedures. Greater specification of objectives and targets will focus on improving clarity about what is expected. There will be more emphasis on performance and efficiency. There are likely to be more formal statements of clients' rights, and better specification of quality of service targets.

It will also be crucial that government monitors the changes. What is being proposed represents a significant change in the way government does its business. Inevitably, some of the initiatives will be more successful than others.

Delivering Better Government represents a significant development in Civil Service history. If implemented well, it will lead to better strategy at the macro and micro levels, resources being allocated to reflect strategic priorities, better monitoring, and improved people management. It will need continuing political support as well as sound systems. But it provides a solid basis on which to take the Irish Civil Service into the next century.