Ahern says dynamic changes to cure social ills needed

The Taoiseach "wholeheartedly" accepted that the "same determination would have to be brought" to addressing Ireland's social problems as had been brought to its economic situation over the past 20 years.

Opening a conference to mark the publication of the NESC report The Developmental Welfare State, Mr Ahern said: "It is clear to me that this is not about a choice between Boston and Berlin. Rather, each country must make decisions regarding the best approach for their circumstances.

"The changes needed will require more dynamic roles for the public service, which must embrace proactively the management, organisational and technological changes required."

Maureen Gaffney, chairwoman of the NESC's sister organisation the National Economic and Social Forum, said a "sense of urgency" was now "absolutely critical" to realise the recommendations of the report.

Describing it as "complex and cerebral", she said one of the major obstacles to implementing its vision of transforming social policy would be "the jealously guarded autonomy of government departments".

"It is an issue which we will have to address in a robust way," she said. "People and systems are innately conservative."

Simply putting in place frameworks would not achieve change. "Strong feelings make us change. The whole question of who is going to champion this will be central to its success."

Brian Nolan of the Economic, Social and Research Institute (ESRI) welcomed the report as "important and ambitious". He did not see it as "a route map" with clear solutions, but as "a very clear pin-pointing of our location".

Clear thinking would be needed in working out how to advance it, he said. "People will see the costs in the short term first," he continued, and he warned against allowing such people to block progress.

Mary Higgins, a social policy and management consultant, said many strategies were published and drawn up and "one of the reasons they don't make a difference is that the structures aren't there to support them".