In the third report in a series titled ‘State of the Public Service’ by the Institute of Public Administration (IPA), Joanna O’Riordan examines organisational capacity in the Irish civil service. Organisational capacity concerns the ability of departments and other agencies to get things done, to follow through on commitments and ultimately to achieve valued outcomes for the citizen. A decision to undertake capacity reviews of individual organisations was announced by the then Taoiseach in June 2006. However, progress has been slow. By the end of 2010 only seven reviews had been published.

This contrasts with a similar initiative in the UK, where all seventeen government departments were reviewed over an eighteen-month period. Irish departments reviewed to date include the Department of Transport, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Department of Health and Children. Capacity weaknesses identified across organisations include issues in human resource management, leadership, the governance of agencies and the capacity of Irish officials at EU level.