1/ Whats boring but would improve the level of Governance in this country significantly?

Open pre-legislative scrutiny.

In recent weeks we've seen it cause furores over the pub re-openings & the wage subsidy scheme. But it's a long running issue. Short thread below...

2/As the OECD show were well below average, amongest developed peers, in both engaging with stakeholderw pre-legislation and robust evaluation post introduction.

3/ As it stands we often pass legislation for new schemes through the first stage in the Dáil before talking to anyone, then wait for the uproar.

For scrutiny, we only come back two years after introduction, if at all, with a public consultation.

This isnt good practice.

4/ It would avoid a lot of hassle if we opened legislation for consultation before it was introduced in the Dáil. Even for a short period, where there is a rush.

We do it occasionally, through a straw-man white paper for comment. But its wildly inconsistent across Departments.

5/ A truncated version of that process would avoid much of the confusion of recent days. It seems to have been written down to communication challenges but it isnt new or just about comms.

Anyways, we should talk a little more about small bills & issues as big as the Budget.