Major reforms are needed to ensure public services become more responsive to people's individual needs, according to a report by the State's advisory body on social inclusion.
The National Economic and Social Forum (NESF) says that despite improvements in the delivery of public services, there are significant shortcomings in education, health, transport and social protection services.
It estimates that around €39 billion is spent on public services and that improvements can be made in areas such as quality, value for money and responsiveness.
Dr Maureen Gaffney, the NESF's chairwoman, said: "We need to move from our present system, which tries to fit more complex individual needs into a one-size-fits-all approach, towards a more customer-focused approach where services are wrapped around people's needs and circumstances."
She added that there was often a wide gap between what service providers believed they were providing and what people actually received.
The 177-page report sets out a number of practical measures which could make significant improvements to the way services are delivered. They include:
r A new customer-centred approach which will better suit people's needs;
r An initiative to ensure people know the standard of service they should receive. For example, the measurement of customer satisfaction with the outcome of services should be monitored;
r Give responsibility for the co-ordination of services to a lead agency in each sector;
r A case management approach with advocacy to meet the needs of vulnerable clients. Research shows this can improve outcomes where a person has multiple needs;
r A high level committee to both drive forward and implement the report's recommendations;
r A longer-term aim to planning, funding and provision of public services, with greater flexibility to innovate and experiment. For example, cost-benefit studies show there is a return of around €7 for every €1 invested in early childhood care and education
The report is aimed at assisting the implementation of public service reform outlined in the new social partnership agreement, Towards 2016.
Dr Gaffney said there were significant challenges and pressures facing public services. A "whole of government" approach was required to address the more complex social problems which people faced nowadays.
This should include a strong focus on early intervention to avoid individual problems becoming more chronic and costly to tackle in the long-term.
