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more diverse, fragmented and decentralised than the post-warmodels of welfare which it was hoped to build. Hence effectivesocial policy requires a different kind of public administration fromthe post-war administrative state.Taken together, the slight deviation from the expected model or goalon many fronts—the role of the state, business development, socialpartnership, industrial relations, the EU and social policy andpatterns—amounts to a significant deviation when all are takentogether. What is clear from Ireland’s experience is that:●●●●Experience, Understanding and New PossibilitiesIreland does not fit neatly into any existing model or category ofsocio-economic development;Much greater economic and social progress occurred than wasdeemed possible within the models that informed earlieranalysis;Ireland has succeeded with an eclectic approach, that seeks toadopt the best features of different socio-economic models;Many of the new economic and social possibilities werediscovered by experimental problem-solving action involvinggovernment, the social partners and others; and● Changes in many parts of the economy, society and the state canamount to significant change in the whole.Because of this, the Council rejects any one-dimensional view, thatthe changes in the past decade are due to a single factor, whether itbe fiscal correction, tax reduction, inward investment, educationalattainment, market liberalisation, high technology, Europeanintegration, labour supply, changes in social policy or indeed, socialpartnership itself. In contrast, the Council believes that the changessince the late 1980s—in the economy, business, public policy,enterprises, the EU and society—have been the product ofwidespread policy and institutional adaptation and experimentation.Although not derived from a preconceived plan or model, eachchange has been deliberate.It is the willingness and ability to change policies, arrangements andinstitutions that ultimately underlies Ireland’s success. This is147