Ireland’s public sector is moving faster than ever before. With the government’s ambitious Digital Public Services Plan 2030 aiming to make 100% of key public services available online, the vision for a fully digital state is clear. We see evidence of this progress in Ireland’s top-tier ranking in the OECD Digital Government Index and the robust rollout of fibre infrastructure across the country.
However, beneath these impressive milestones lies a significant hurdle. While the technology and ambition are present, there is a growing need for skilled professionals to drive this transformation. The demand for specialist skills from AI governance to cybersecurity and cloud engineering is outpacing the available talent pool. This skills gap poses challenges to the timely delivery of critical projects and user-centric citizen services.
To meet the 2030 targets, public sector leaders must look beyond traditional hiring models. It is time to reimagine how we attract, deploy, and retain talent in an increasingly competitive market.
The Current Landscape: Ambition vs. Capability
Ireland has built a strong foundation for digital government. The 2025 Digital Decade Country Report highlights significant gains in digital infrastructure, particularly in very-high-capacity networks. Furthermore, the push for "life-events" redesign signals a shift towards user-centred services rather than just digitising existing paper forms.
Yet, the same report points to a worrying trend: the growth of ICT specialists is too slow to keep up with demand. While general digital literacy in Ireland is high, the public sector faces specific shortages in advanced technical roles from AI to cybersecurity. Gaps in e-Health and legacy IT systems further complicate the picture, acting as brakes on innovation.
This creates a ‘talent imperative.’ While the tech stack matters, it's workforce strategy that ultimately drives digital transformation.
Why the Gap Persists
Understanding the root causes of this skills shortage is the first step towards fixing it. A significant factor is that public bodies face increasing competition for talent, particularly from multinational tech giants and agile start-ups. These private sector competitors often offer equity packages, rapid career progression, and flexible working arrangements that traditional civil service structures can find challenging to match.
The Evolution of Skills
The skills required today are vastly different from those needed five years ago. We are seeing a surge in demand for niche expertise, such as:
AI Experts to forecast healthcare demand or streamline administrative workflows.
Cybersecurity Specialists to protect critical national infrastructure.
UX Designers to create intuitive, accessible digital services for citizens.
Data Scientists to transform raw feedback into actionable policy insights.
Traditional public sector recruitment cycles can sometimes struggle to secure high-demand professionals in a competitive market. To bridge the gap, organisations must adopt more dynamic workforce architectures. Reliance on permanent, full-time hires for every role is no longer the only, or best solution.
Partnership-Driven Model
Building every capability in-house is not always practical. Strategic partnerships allow public bodies to lean on external expertise for specific functions. Those offering contingent staffing management can help address complex workforce challenges. For example, we support critical public sector initiatives with experienced programme managers, test managers, and business analysts, contributing to operational continuity and the dependable running of vital systems.
By partnering with experts who understand both the technical landscape and public sector compliance, organisations can scale their workforce up or down based on project needs, ensuring agility and cost control.
Strategic Capability Building
Proactive organisations address skills shortages before they become critical challenges. This involves rigorous future-skills mapping to identify what the organisation will need in 12 to 24 months, not just what it needs today.
Centres of Excellence are proving to be a powerful model here. These hubs blend permanent staff who understand the organisation’s culture and mission, with rotating specialists who bring fresh, cutting-edge perspectives. This facilitates knowledge transfer, upskilling internal teams while delivering on complex projects.
Adopting Blended Talent Solutions
Public sector organisations increasingly move beyond linear approaches to talent acquisition. Consulting firms are often instrumental to organisational transformation programmes and complex strategic initiatives.
At the same time, certain initiatives benefit from a blended delivery approach that combines internal capability with targeted contractor expertise, a flexible and cost-effective option.
Organisations can significantly accelerate the delivery of digital platforms by deploying specialist project teams, rather than relying solely on traditional permanent hires. For example, engaging a team of IT contractors through a talent solutions provider with proven expertise enables faster mobilisation and delivery. The result is consistent quality, achieved with greater cost efficiency, underpinned with the flexibility to scale down on completion.
The Public Sector Advantage
Despite competition, the public sector retains a distinctive advantage: purpose. Digital professionals increasingly seek work that feels meaningful. The opportunity to build systems that affect millions of lives, delivering healthcare, strengthening national security, or improving education is a powerful motivator.
Public sector leaders can further enhance their ability to communicate the mission’s value, emphasising the meaningful impact of their work. When you offer someone the chance to shape how the country functions, you offer a value proposition that private companies often cannot match.
Pairing purpose-driven work with flexible, modern employment models enables public sector organisations to compete more effectively for top digital talent.
Taking the Next Step
The path to a fully digital public service is paved with talent. While the challenges of legacy systems and skills shortages are real, they are solvable with the right strategy. By moving towards flexible, blended workforce models and leveraging strategic partnerships, Ireland’s public sector can secure the skills it needs to deliver on its 2030 promises.
Cpl have partnered with public sector organisations for over 35 years, sourcing experienced professionals—from IT support specialists maintaining essential operations to architects designing critical digital infrastructure.
Contact our Public Sector team today to discuss how we can support your transformation journey.