Partnership programme managers in the Reynolds/Spring coalition, 1993–4: An assessment

Abstract

This article examines an important innovation in Irish administration, the introduction of partnership programme managers under the Reynolds/Spring coalition which took office in January 1993. It discusses the system in operation, reviews the arguments for and against the use of permanent civil servants and of political appointees in the role, examines the different approaches of the Fianna Fail and the Labour parties to the selection and the role of programme managers, and speculates on the possibility that future governments will use such posts as a means both of increasing party influence on administration, and of supporting party officials out of the public purse. It considers the wider implications of the importation into central administration of ministerial appointees with clear party political affiliations, and it reflects on the possible impact of such officials on the apolitical ethos which has been one of the defining characteristics of the Irish civil service since independence.