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The Minister of State for Public Expenditure and Reform with special responsibility for Public Procurement, Open Government and eGovernment, Patrick O’Donovan T.D., today (Tuesday 27th June 2017) initiated a public consultation to engage directly with members of the public and civil society on the Implementation of Ireland’s Open Government Partnership National Action Plan 2016-2018. An online consultation portal and an Implementation Review Forum are intended to provide a space for dialogue, collaboration, and an opportunity for civil society to give feedback on the implementation of the 15 commitments in the Action Plan.
The National Action Plan 2016-2018 was agreed by the Government under the Open Government Partnership (OGP) initiative, which challenges governments to be more transparent, accountable and responsive to citizens.
Initiating the consultation process on the implementation of the National Action Plan, Minister of State O’Donovan said: ‘The Government is committed to an effective dialogue with the public and civil society, with the aim of ensuring that the work to implement the National Action Plan advances the goals of the Open Government Partnership in real, practical terms.’
The commitments set out in the National Action Plan 2016-2018 address four themes:
1. Increased Citizen Engagement, to improve policies and services
2. Increased Transparency, to better understand government activities and decisions
3. Open Data, for transparency and innovation
4. Anti-Corruption and Strengthened Governance and Accountability, to ensure integrity in public life
The dedicated consultation portal https://consult.ogpireland.ie allows for an open exchange of ideas on the implementation of the individual commitments.
Ireland’s first National Action Plan, 2014-2016, promoted citizen participation in policy making, strengthened governance and accountability and advanced the Government’s Open Data strategy. Its major achievements included legislation to regulate lobbying, protect whistleblowers and reform of the Freedom of Information and ethics regimes.
Minister of State O’Donovan said: “The commitments in the National Action Plan 2016-2018 aim to improve policy making and the delivery of services, further strengthen our systems of governance and accountability and prevent corruption. I am happy to note that the work on delivering the National Action Plan is advancing steadily, with substantial progress made on 7 of the 15 commitments. I look forward to the public and civil society submitting their views on how to ensure this work effectively advances the goals of the Open Government Partnership.”
More information on Ireland’s membership of the Open Government Partnership and on this consultation exercise is available at www.ogpireland.ie

Notes to Editors:
The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multilateral initiative currently joined by some 70 countries in the developed and developing world. It aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance.
The OGP was started on the margins of the UN general assembly in September 2011 with support from President Obama of the United States and other leaders. It is run by a steering committee composed of governments and civil society organisations.
Information on the OGP initiative is available on the Open Government Partnership’s website www.opengovpartnership.org
Information on Ireland and the OGP and more detail on this consultation process is available on a dedicated website www.ogpireland.ie
Open Data is about providing machine readable data that is generated in the public sector openly, in free and reusable formats, so that it can be used to promote innovation and transparency. It can be used, for example, to understand, and therefore improve, our health services, our transport infrastructure and our air quality. For further information on the Open Data Initiative see: http://www.per.gov.ie/en/open-data/
There are 15 Commitments set out in the National Action Plan 2016-2018, each with a number of verifiable milestones to fulfil them.

These are summarised in this table.

Detailed information on the actions contained in Ireland’s first OGP National Action Plan, 2014-2106, and their impact is available in an Independent Review conducted on behalf of the Open Government Partnership. See: Independent Reporting Mechanism, Ireland: Progress Report