The conference reflected on what are difficult times ahead for the government sectors of most western economies and the fact that both the UK and Ireland had massive fiscal deficits to be corrected. It was acknowledged that fiscal consolidation would be a painful process and that in the Republic the pain was already being experienced while for the UK the issue would be one of timing.
On both sides of the Irish border "The Road to Recovery" was likely to be a long and a hard journey. Looking to the considerable challenges ahead, the conference briought together chief executives from both sides of the border to consider the question of how public agencies can protect and improve services by getting more from a parlous public purse. While "Transforming Public Services" has effectively been work in progress for some time, the question of how to do it would prove to be one of increasing urgency in the months that lay ahead.
The conference brought together an impressive line-up of highly respected and authoritative speakers from North and South, each with a different perspective on what lies ahead and on what needs to be done. They included: Seán Dorgan, Chairman, Ulster Bank Group; Brendan Keenan, Economics Editor, Irish Independent; Henry Patterson, Professor of Politics at the University of Ulster; Bruce Robinson, Permanent Secretary and Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister; Dermot McCarthy, Secretary General to the Government of Ireland and Secretary General to the Department of the Taoiseach; Dr Don Thornhill, consultant and adviser on policy and strategy; and Paul Wickens, Chief Executive, Northern Ireland Civil Service Shared Service Organisation.
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