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        <title>Administration Feed</title>
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            <title><![CDATA[Introduction: An important national resource – strengthening evidence-informed policy-making across the Irish public service]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/admin-2026-0018</link>
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            <pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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            <title><![CDATA[Developing approaches to enable research to better support policy-making in Ireland: Lessons from the Dublin City University Policy Lab]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/admin-2026-0024</link>
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            <pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[This article analyses the establishment of a new university–policy advisory system interface, the Dublin City University (DCU) Policy Lab, and its experience of contributing to the Irish policy advisory system. It situates the experience of the DCU Policy Lab in Irish policy advisory systems, i.e. the departmental policy analysis units, agencies and practices that governments and other actors engage with to inform the development and implementation of policy. It then examines the adoption of a particular pedagogy, challenge-based learning, and the use of a specific research synthesis instrument, the rapid evidence assessment. In conjunction, results from a small number of interviews conducted with a range of civil and public servants, representatives of civil society organisations, and graduates of the MSc in Public Policy programme are presented to understand the respondents’ own assessments of the work undertaken by the DCU Policy Lab. The paper highlights the issues that arise when working to bring university-initiated research closer to public policy-making and highlights the benefits of such efforts and the lessons learned by those working in the policy arena, i.e. government departments and local authorities, and those postgraduate students from DCU undertaking the challenges, the majority of whom, to date are, have been serving civil and public servants, to date.]]></description>
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            <title><![CDATA[Evidence-informed policy-making: The evolving role of national research funders]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/admin-2026-0021</link>
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            <pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[This article examines the evolving role of national research funders in strengthening evidence-informed policy-making, with particular attention on Research Ireland and its predecessor organisations, Science Foundation Ireland and the Irish Research Council. It situates the research–policy interface within Ireland’s changing research and innovation system and considers how funders can act not only as grant makers, but also as conveners, brokers and strategic system leaders. Drawing on the development of programmes, including COALESCE, New Foundations, the National Challenge Fund and the Public Sector Fellowship Programme, alongside experience from sectoral agencies, the article identifies the institutional conditions that support effective policy engagement. The analysis also highlights persistent challenges arising from differing research and policy timelines, fragmented networks, and the need to balance policy relevance with academic independence and foundational research. It argues that Research Ireland’s cross-disciplinary remit creates an opportunity to develop a more coherent national approach to research for policy.]]></description>
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            <title><![CDATA[Evidence-informed policy-making in a data-driven age: The role and limits of official statistics]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/admin-2026-0020</link>
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            <pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Official statistics have long provided a foundation for evidence-informed policy-making, offering professionally independent, quality-assured and transparent evidence to support democratic decision-making. Yet the contemporary policy environment presents statistical systems with a difficult set of pressures. Demand is growing for faster, more granular and more actionable evidence, particularly during crises, while policymakers increasingly draw on dashboards, models, artificial intelligence and non-traditional data sources. These tools can improve timeliness and analytical capacity, but they also raise risks relating to bias, opacity, representativity, uncertainty and accountability. This paper examines the evolving role of official statistics in this context, arguing that their value lies not in automating or determining policy choices, but in anchoring them. It distinguishes between evidence-informed and data-driven decision-making, warning that the latter may imply a technocratic shift in which data appear to substitute for human judgement. Drawing on Irish and international examples, the paper considers the institutional, methodological and democratic challenges facing official statistics, including data access, public trust, communication, artificial intelligence and the post-truth information environment. It concludes that official statistics remain essential democratic infrastructure: they should inform decisions, clarify trade-offs and support accountability, while remaining subordinate to context, deliberation and judgement.]]></description>
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            <title><![CDATA[Strategic policy committees: Utilising data and evidence to inform policy development in local government]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/admin-2026-0022</link>
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            <pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[This paper examines the relationship between central and local government in Ireland and how this dynamic shapes service delivery along with policy development and implementation opportunities at the local level. It explores the original intent behind strategic policy committees (SPCs), introduced under the Better Local Government reform programme, which sought to strengthen local democracy and enhance the policy role of elected members through structured engagement with sectoral stakeholders. While SPCs were designed as key instruments for collaborative policy development, the paper highlights ongoing challenges in realising their full policy remit, including ambiguity around their scope, capacity constraints, and the continued influence of central government.The paper further analyses a case study from Dublin City Council, where an SPC-led initiative examined the potential remunicipalisation of domestic waste collection. Through the commissioning of independent research and the evaluation of multiple policy scenarios, this case study demonstrates how SPCs can contribute to evidence-informed policy development.Drawing on this example, the paper identifies lessons for other local authorities, emphasising the importance of research capacity, collaboration between elected members, sectoral groups and officials, while adhering to structured policy development frameworks. It concludes that, despite systemic constraints, SPCs continue to be an important vehicle for local policy leadership and innovation.]]></description>
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            <title><![CDATA[The political perspective on effective approaches to evidence for policy]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/admin-2026-0019</link>
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            <pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[This paper examines how political considerations shape the use of research evidence in policy-making. It stresses that systematic and transparent approaches are essential for presenting complex issues and the best available evidence to ministers. By categorising policymakers and proposing that researchers have ethical responsibilities to engage beyond academia, the paper emphasises the need for the ‘three Cs’, citizens, context and clarity, as essential criteria for communicating evidence to decision makers. Using real-world examples, it shows why research, even where findings are uncertain or inconclusive, is crucial for decision-making. The paper calls for evidence to be transparent, accessible and relevant, so that ministers can make more equitable and effective policy decisions, strengthening the connection between research and policy systems, and improving public outcomes.]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
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            <title><![CDATA[From evidence infrastructure to evidence capability: Reframing evidence-informed policy-making in Ireland]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/admin-2026-0025</link>
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            <pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[This paper argues that the next phase of evidence-informed policy-making in Ireland requires a shift in focus from evidence infrastructure to evidence capability. Drawing together the contributions to this special edition of Administration, it argues that while Ireland has made significant progress in building institutional structures that support evidence use, structure alone is insufficient. The effective use of evidence depends upon the capabilities of individuals, organisations and systems to acquire, interpret, synthesise and apply evidence in complex policy environments. The paper identifies four interdependent dimensions of evidence capability – analytical and data capability, policy capability, knowledge brokerage capability and leadership capability – and concludes that the next phase should move beyond evidence-informed policy-making as a discrete reform agenda towards the deliberate and systematic development of an evidence-capable public service.]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
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            <title><![CDATA[Improving policy and services through data-driven evidence: The role of the Local Government Management Agency]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/admin-2026-0023</link>
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            <pubDate>Sat, 19 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[The use of administrative data to generate evidence that influences policy and operational decisions is increasing. This article examines the role of the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) in strengthening the capacity of the Irish local government sector to generate and apply data-driven evidence in policy development, implementation and service improvement. It focuses on the work of the LGMA Research Unit and Central Data Unit, and on the County and City Management Association Data Working Groups through which administrative, survey and operational data are translated into policy-relevant evidence. Drawing on examples from housing, homelessness, planning, customer service and climate action, the article shows how structured data governance, sectoral expertise and targeted dissemination can support trend analysis, identify regional variation, inform performance monitoring and shape policy responses. It argues that the value of data-led evidence depends not only on the quality of the data, but on the interpretive, institutional and relational processes through which evidence is validated, communicated and brought into policy arenas. The article concludes that combining quantitative data analysis with qualitative research and practitioner knowledge can strengthen evidence-informed policy-making and enhance the contribution of local authorities to national policy and service reform.]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
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            <title><![CDATA[Connecting early career researchers and policymakers: Insights from Young Academy Ireland’s Evidence for Policy Summit 2025]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/admin-2026-0017</link>
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            <pubDate>Tue, 16 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
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            <title><![CDATA[Introduction: Evidence-informed policy-making in the Irish public service – an important national asset]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/admin-2026-0010</link>
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            <pubDate>Tue, 16 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
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        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Maximising the impact of research evidence on policy]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/admin-2026-0011</link>
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            <pubDate>Tue, 16 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[In an increasingly complex and uncertain world, the need for evidence to inform public-policy responses is becoming ever stronger. This wide-ranging article provides an overview of government efforts in recent years to maximise the impact of evidence on Ireland’s policy system. It begins by setting out the context to government ambitions in this area, exploring the main drivers of the evidence for policy agenda. The role and activities undertaken by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, along with its partners, are outlined and the components of the national evidence ecosystem broadly described. Key challenges in respect of effective research–policy engagement are highlighted. Drawing from extensive dialogue and consultation with stakeholders, the article identifies opportunities for improving engagement between government departments and academia. In the context of significant recent developments, it concludes by looking ahead to the key elements of a stronger evidence base for policy system.]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
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        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Developing evidence for policy and practice in the Department of Education and Youth]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/admin-2026-0016</link>
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            <pubDate>Tue, 16 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[This paper outlines the strategic approach being adopted by the Department of Education and Youth to deliver on its ambition to increase the role of research, evidence and data in shaping positive and effective educational experiences for all children and young people. The paper will describe key strategic actions which the department has been pursuing, in line with its Statement of Strategy, namely establishing a Research Section to drive and coordinate the department’s research activities; secondly, establishing an annual Education Research Summit built around Fíorú – a futures-oriented research network – to build linkages between the policy, research and practice communities; and lastly, building the administrative and collaborative infrastructure to deliver on the department’s research goals. The paper concludes by setting out a number of avenues through which the department can continue to support research, which is particularly relevant in the context of the upcoming National Convention on Education and the department’s planned education strategy ‘Our Schools, Our Future’.]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
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        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Maximising the potential for engagement with the European Scientific Advice Mechanism: A small state perspective from Ireland]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/admin-2026-0013</link>
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            <pubDate>Tue, 16 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[This article addresses a largely neglected dimension of European science– policy scholarship, namely the relationship between national science advisory structures and a state’s capacity to contribute to, absorb and engage with supranational science advisory structures such as the European Commission’s Science Advice Mechanism. Despite an extensive body of scholarship on best practice in science–policy interactions and science advisory models, little attention has been paid to the effects of structural asymmetries in absorptive and translational research capacity in the context of state-supranational advisory systems. National science academies play a central role at national level and within Europe’s Science Advice Mechanism, acting as both bridge and translator between the national and international science and policy communities. Drawing upon the participation of the Royal Irish Academy, Ireland’s national academy for the sciences, humanities and social sciences, in the European Commission’s Science Advice for Policy by European Academies initiative, this paper traces the post-2018 evolution of Ireland and the European Union’s science advisory architecture, and discusses the challenges and opportunities posed for small states by the growing appetite for evidence-informed policy. It argues that the participation of national experts in international science advisory systems creates a meaningful route through which small states can help frame and inform international policy agendas and enhance national policy-making. Finally, it argues that attention to this issue will contribute to the future inclusivity, effectiveness and legitimacy of Ireland’s science advisory system.]]></description>
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            <title><![CDATA[Advancing knowledge brokerage for public policy in Maynooth University]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/admin-2026-0014</link>
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            <pubDate>Tue, 16 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[This paper is a reflection on the process of extended engagement undertaken by the authors in Maynooth University aimed at unlocking the potential of research to inform policy-making in Ireland. It describes and reviews the diverse range of engagement and supporting activities that the authors undertook in Maynooth University and with other universities, government departments and agencies, and other partner organisations.The programme of work has been and continues to be exploratory in nature and any insights are preliminary and tentative. That said, the extensive record of engagement undertaken, does lend support to three general observations. Firstly, knowledge brokering is a complex social and relational process that linear accounts fail to comprehend. Secondly, because knowledge brokering involves interactions between individual researchers and policymakers, and because many different organisations are involved (including universities, research funders, government departments and agencies), systems thinking can help in understanding and shaping knowledge brokering structures and supports. One final thought is that any productive learning from the engagement described here, was only possible because the various interactions were underpinned by conscious efforts to establish trust, mutual understanding and a respect for diversity of perspectives. Such an inclusive approach may be well worth reflecting on when seeking to formalise and systematise knowledge brokering activity at scale.This work is ongoing at Maynooth University, and together with the Knowledge Brokerage research project that is now underway, promises a more integrated and holistic understanding of knowledge brokering for policy in Ireland.]]></description>
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        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Improving the use of research evidence to inform economic policy-making in Ireland: Reflections on some key changes since 2012]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/admin-2026-0015</link>
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            <pubDate>Tue, 16 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Since the global financial crisis, Ireland has increasingly adopted a more evidence-informed approach to policy development. Over the past fifteen years, this shift has been reflected in greater investment in the National Statistical Service, greater funding of policy-relevant research projects and postgraduate programmes, the establishment of the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES) in 2012, and, most recently, by the naming of ‘Data and Evidence’ as the first pillar of the Government of Ireland Policy Handbook published in 2025. The purpose of IGEES is to strengthen the analytical capability within the civil service to deliver economic research evidence to policy officials who are advising senior politicians. This paper revisits several issues raised in Ruane’s article ‘Research evidence and policymaking in Ireland’ previously published in volume 60 of Administration in 2012, which remain pertinent today. It then examines the evolution of IGEES as the first cross-departmental group of professionals in the Irish civil service, focusing on what is required for its continued development and future sustainability. The paper goes on to consider IGEES as the first step in developing a more skills-based civil service, moving Ireland away from the inherited pre-independence, ‘generalist’ United Kingdom civil-service model.]]></description>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
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        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Strengthening policy development in the Irish civil service]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/admin-2026-0012</link>
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            <pubDate>Tue, 16 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[This paper centres on recent efforts – led by the Department of the Taoiseach under the aegis of the Civil Service Management Board – to improve the policy development capacity of the Irish civil service. It focuses on the rationale for a novel framework for policy development which consists of three interdependent parts, namely (i) evidence, (ii) feasibility and (iii) legitimacy. Developing such a framework is only the first step in reform as the fundamental challenge lies in embedding it in the policy work of government departments. International experience shows that this embedding exercise has to be driven on multiple fronts rather than viewing it as an outcome of enhanced training. The paper outlines how this is currently being done and some of the major issues to be addressed.]]></description>
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            <title><![CDATA[Health services, 2025]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/admin-2026-0004</link>
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            <pubDate>Tue, 17 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
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            <title><![CDATA[Education, 2025]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/admin-2026-0006</link>
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            <pubDate>Tue, 17 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
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            <title><![CDATA[Justice, 2025]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/admin-2026-0005</link>
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            <pubDate>Tue, 17 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <category>ARTICLE</category>
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            <title><![CDATA[Joining up public service information: The rationale for a national data infrastructure]]></title>
            <link>https://reference-global.com/article/10.2478/admin-2026-0009</link>
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            <pubDate>Tue, 17 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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