45126-Invest. Qual-No111

Investment in Quality●●Clarify obligations of the state in relation to each of the normse.g. by reference to indicators and benchmarks;Establish accessible, transparent and effective mechanisms ofaccountability in relation to each of the norms or standards; and● Ensure that all members of society are fully aware of the rightsand standards that they are entitled to expect.The Council endorses these proposals. The question is: at whatlevel, and by what procedure, are standards to be set, performanceto be monitored and accountability to be secured? The challengeoutlined above, while it can be seen as the challenge of socioeconomicrights, is nothing less than the challenge of finding moreeffective approaches to public administration, citizens’ participationand accountability, especially in the social area.High-level comparisons of how health, education or welfare inIreland compare with other EU countries have a role. But standardsand benchmarks that not only tell how things are, but also howthey can be improved, are much more specific and detailed.This can include comparison of the effectiveness of differentapproaches to administration, service provision and client/community participation.The link between socio-economic rights, standards and publicreform was emphasised in the Framework Document of the RevisedNAPS. The consultants drew attention to the fact that, across theEU, there is now a major quality improvement drive underway inthe public services, ranging from standards set at the national levelto those locally developed. Increasingly, indicators are beingdeveloped to measure good quality and user entitlements. Much ofthe debate about citizens’ rights is focused on client participation,information on the level and type of services to be provided and therequirement that service delivery agencies set quality targets andreport their performance against them (Goodbody EconomicConsultants, 2001:90). They emphasised that much of the workemanating from the SMI process in the Irish public service isinspired by such values.370