Introduction

As the legislature, Oireachtas Éireann has three main tasks in policy making: providing legitimacy for public policy; participating in the legislative process; and performing control and scrutiny functions. This chapter focuses on policy analysis and observes these tasks from the perspective of the role of legislators in Dáil Éireann. It also explores the historical and contemporary role of parliamentary and other political committees, and the institutional supports that enable their function in policy making. Arguably, the sheer dearth of assistance and resources available to Teachtaí Dála (TDs) has contributed to an underwhelming legislative performance over time. Developments since 2011 provide an important context for exploring the role of the Irish parliament in policy analysis in this chapter, given the relative deficiencies in earlier reform initiatives and the systemic policy failures highlighted by the crisis. An agenda to introduce political-administrative reform post-2011 included building policy analysis capacity within the Oireachtas and addressing the significant imbalances in executive–legislative relations. The chapter begins with a sketch of the Irish parliament to provide an outline of the constitutional underpinning of the Irish parliament and its relationship to government. It then proceeds to discuss the degree to which Dáil Éireann developed a role in policy analysis, including an outline of key reforms from 2011. In particular, three areas of interest are explored: access to information and research capacity for policy analysis, including the emerging Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO), which may encourage more meaningful contributions in the public policy process; the development of the committee system and its activities; participation in inquiries.

A background sketch of the role of the Irish legislature

Academic scholarship has considered both the degree to which the design and operation of the Dáil has been influenced by the British Westminster archetype and its capacity to participate in the policy-making process (MacCarthaigh, 2005; Lynch et al, 2017). Parliaments derived from the Westminster model tend to exhibit powers of appointment and dismissal, scrutiny of the executive branch, and law making. These features correspond with the functions that the Constitution apportions to the Oireachtas. First, the appointment of the Taoiseach and the government (Articles 13 and 28), and second, law-making powers are assigned exclusively to the Oireachtas (Articles 15 to 27). Article 28.4.1 indicates an oversight role, since it states that the ‘government shall be responsible to Dáil Éireann’.