Better Public Services Newsletter - June 2026 - Pillar 1 Showcase

Better Public Services Transformation Showcase 2025-2026

This publication provides a showcase of work taking place across the public service to drive transformation under the three pillars of the Better Public Services Strategy (2023-2030). The vision is to deliver inclusive, high quality and integrated public services that meet the needs and improve the lives of the people of Ireland. It looks back to 2025 transformation achievements and forward to 2026 transformation priorities. It covers flagship transformation projects led by the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (DPER), and a snapshot of some of the many transformation initiatives happening across the public service. It specifically focuses on the organisations represented on the Public Service Leadership Board. This governance structure, comprising of senior leaders, plays a key role in achieving the ambition of the strategy by working together on shared priorities at a strategic level.

Pillar 1 – Digital and Innovation at Scale

Flagship Initiative - Publication and Implementation of the Digital Services Plan 2030

Significant progress is being made on the strategic priorities in Better Public Services, including flagship initiatives, which engage with multiple public service bodies with enablers provided centrally by the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation.

The Digital Public Services Plan was published in 2025, this is the Irish Government’s roadmap for delivering seamless, inclusive and user-centred public services through digital transformation. It is a key initiative under the better Public Services Strategy and represents Ireland’s most ambitious digital reform agenda to date. It aims to ensure that by 2030:

• 100% of key public services are available online
• 90% of applicable services are consumed digitally

At the heart of this transformation is the Life Events approach, a model that reimagines public services around the real-life moments that matter to people, such as starting school, becoming a parent, accessing housing, or the birth of a child. This approach ensures that services are designed to be intuitive, proactive and integrated, reducing complexity and improving access for all.

In 2026 DPER will implement phase one of the plan with the rollout of four Life Events. National legislation is being developed to implement the eIDAS Regulation, establishing a framework for a European Digital identity. We will introduce phased mandatory use of customisable, shared public digital infrastructure blocks provided by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, to accelerate the delivery of public services that are compatible with each other, robust, secure and provide value for money.

Case Study 1 - Transformation Across the Public Service

Launch of the Health Service Executive (HSE) Health App

Launched in 2025, the HSE Health App, is a user-friendly digital health service developed by the HSE and the Department of Health, providing patients with secure access to their health information, hospital appointments and health services.

It is one of the first initiatives delivered as part of Digital for Care 2030, Ireland’s health and social care digital framework. Aligned with the ‘patient as an empowered partner’ principle in the strategy, the app empowers patients to actively engage in their own healthcare while adhering to stringent GDPR and data protection standards.

This innovation was co-designed with patients, staff, and advocacy groups and multiple HSE teams. It connects previously siloed systems to create a unified patient record offering appointments, health cards, reimbursed medications, vaccination records and HSE service information. The HSE App enables a more personalised relationship between the public and health service providers, improved access to personalised health information, increasing patient knowledge, enhanced awareness of appointments, helping to reduce missed appointments, saving time for patients and service providers and lowering travel-related emissions.

Other Pillar 1 examples include:

* A new ePlanning Portal, which is a national system for the submission and management of all planning applications in use by all local authorities.

* Advancements in virtual healthcare

* Development of Irish language AI capabilities

* New guidance for schools on the use of AI

* An award-winning spatial analysis toolkit in use by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.