1 Incorporating New Concepts into Programme Planning: the Experience of the Horizontal Principles in the NDP Friday 24 th September 2004 IEN Conference Workshop C: Evaluation and Public Policy Robert Murphy and Hilary Curley

OVERVIEW 2  Background  MTE issues and approach  Key MTE findings on the HPs  NDP/CSF Unit’s approach and methodology  Results of prioritisation  Embedding the HPs  Lessons for planning and evaluation

BACKGROUND 3  Investment of €52bn under the NDP  Integration of four Horizontal Principles  equal opportunitiessocial inclusion  rural developmentthe environment  Mid-term evaluations of Operational Programmes  Mid-term review process

MTE ISSUES TO BE EVALUATED 4  Assess how the HPs are addressed  Assess how the HPs are reported on  Examine the extent to which the HPs are captured by indicators  Express a view as to the likely impact on the HPs

APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY 5  Reviewed programme literature  Examined monitoring indicators and other data  Consulted with relevant stakeholders  Assessed Measures/Sub-measures against TOR criteria

KEY MTE FINDINGS ON THE HPs 6 Integration Difficulties  Poor quality and unclear ex-ante analysis of the relevance of the HPs  Poor quality and formulaic reporting of progress on HPs  Absence of indicators or other data to capture progress  Lack of understanding of goals and how to integrate  Lack of guidance or support to implementing bodies  Difficult to make substantive conclusions on impact Way Forward  Prioritise a smaller number of Measures for greater integration effort

UNIT’S APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY 7  Assessed each Measure against five criteria  Produced an initial list of measures most relevant to each principle  Held consultations  Re-examined certain Measures  Refined prioritisation lists

UNIT’S RESULTS 8  Most Measures selected meet at least three of the five criteria  Few Measures were selected under more than two principles  All the measures under the NDP/CSF are selected for examination under at least one horizontal principle.

ELEMENTS TO EMBEDDING THE HPs  Measure Review  Integration of principles into the programme complement  Reporting  Role of Co-ordinating Committees 9

PROGRESS TO DATE  Review process underway  Meetings held to assess progress  Reporting templates prepared  Programme complements currently being revised 10

LESSONS  Need to undertake detailed ex-ante analysis  Relevance, prioritisation, objectives, possible actions, measurement  Need to effectively incorporate into programme design and monitoring arrangements  Reporting procedures, indicators, capacity (data collection, analysis), “stick and carrot”  Need to plan for future evaluations  Appropriate evaluation framework, evaluate “process” and “impacts”. 11