Ireland continues to perform well in maintaining trust in public institutions

Building trust in public institutions is a core aim of the Better Public Services transformation strategy. Understanding the areas that impact on trust is central to the delivery of public services and can help to inform the implementation of the transformation programme. It is also important for ensuring acceptance of and support for government policies.

The 2023 Survey on the Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) was launched on 10 July 2024 by Paschal Donohoe TD, Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, along with the Minister of Finance from Chile and the Minister of Local and Regional Government from Finland.

First carried out in 2021, the survey examines people’s expectations and everyday experiences with government interactions and how complex policy decision-making influences their trust in public institutions. The drivers of trust, identified from OECD research, are reliability, responsiveness, integrity, fairness and openness of the Government and public administration.

It is these drivers of trust that guide the Better Public Services strategy. This survey, therefore, provides insights that can be used to monitor the progress of the strategy.

The Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform worked with the Central Statistics Office (CSO) to deliver the Irish survey. Findings include:

• 47% of Irish respondents reporting high to moderate trust in Government, comparing positively with a 39% OECD average.
• Irish respondents reported high levels of confidence in Irish public institutions, with trust levels of 70% for an Garda Síochána and 69% for the courts and legal system.
• 74% of Irish respondents were found to believe that their application for a Government benefit or service would be treated fairly, which is notably higher than the overall OECD average of 52%.

Further information on the Irish results are found within the press release, the country note published by the OECD and the full Irish findings from the CSO.

OECD Global Forum on Building Trust and Reinforcing Democracy

Participants from around the world are coming together online and in-person to participate in the OECD’s Global Forum 2024, as part of its flagship initiative on Building Trust and Reinforcing Democracy. Taking place every two years, this year’s Forum will be hosted by Italy in Milan from 21-22 October.

The Forum will provide an opportunity for stakeholders to reflect on a range of developments connected to public governance. These include important issues such as Artificial Intelligence, the increasing need to promote information integrity, efforts to tackle mis- and dis-information, and the need to support meaningful citizen engagement and participation.

Many of the Forum sessions will cover topics that will be of interest to Irish public servants will be live-streamed over the course of the two days. Further details are available on the Forum event page.

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