merrion street

Government today is publishing the Draft National Risk Assessment (NRA) 2014.

The purpose of the NRA is to identify the risks, both financial and non-financial, which Ireland faces and therefore ensure appropriate prevention and mitigation measures are introduced.

It is part of a package alongside the National Reform Programme and Stability Programme Update.

The Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, has said that one of the priorities as Ireland moves towards economic recovery is ‘to ensure we learn from the mistakes of the past.  One of those mistakes was complacency at a time of prosperity so that serious questions were avoided.

He went on to say that ‘never again should threats to our nation’s future be ignored.  Never again should dissenting voices be silenced when warning of risks up ahead’. The Draft NRA 2014 will list the risks the country faces and encourage debate in the Dáil and by the public on these issues.

To initiate the process, the Department of the Taoiseach invited all Government Departments to nominate significant risks for inclusion in the NRA and also organised a Seminar to discuss the draft list.

Risks have been classified under the following headings:

(the NRA document has a complete list). Most are already being dealt with through existing Government structures and processes.

The public are invited to make submissions about the Draft NRA 2014 to

by 30

June. They may wish to nominate any risks for inclusion in the NRA that they believe warrant recognition. They may also wish to suggest how risks should be addressed.

Government will ensure that new processes are established to deal with the mitigation of any significant risks which emerge through the process.

In parallel, there will be a review of the governance of risk management across Government to make it more systematic at a strategic national level as well as exploring what comparator countries are doing in this area. A Steering Group of Government Departments will take responsibility for taking forward the process.