1. Project Governance and Decision-Making Processes

Project governance refers to the system of management and the structure through which decisions are made to guide a project to its objectives using accountability, transparency, and stakeholder alignment (Müller, 2016). The nature of public scrutiny given to the Irish Water Meter Scheme has meant that the functions of governance arrangements were especially paramount. Good governance helps in maintaining decision-makers aligned both with the project’s goals and, more generally, with stakeholders. The Irish Water project epitomised how even hurriedly passed legislation, at times without much public contribution towards a decision, can affect the trust of and compliance by citizens (Bekker, 2009). A properly instituted governance framework, which should have been constituted on stakeholder involvement, regular reviews, and open channels for decision-making, could have avoided all negative perceptions from the general public and resultant political backlash. This helps governance structures maintain their legitimacy and accountability in all public projects, as stressed by Müller. This will further allow more balance between efficiency and the public interest if there are structured practices of governance included in the project.

• Financial Management and Cost Control

It is also important in gaining project sustainability and public trust in financial management, particularly in the public sector. The Irish Water Meter Scheme had plenty of challenges related to cost overruns; one of them was the so-called “consultant fees” of €86 million, which caused outrage among the public (Flyvbjerg, 2012). Cost management failure in various construction projects warns about the need for tight control in financial management to avoid the misallocation of resources and to keep costs from spiralling upwards (Martinsuo, 2014). Large project cost control involves comprehensive budgeting, periodic auditing, and timely correction in case the budgets are running off prediction. Financial strategies, for instance, would entail a clear cost-control strategy to avoid sudden financial pressures by closely monitoring actual expenditure against forecasted expenditure and taking remedial measures where there are deviations. Perhaps Irish Water should have adopted a value-management approach to ensure money was spent on key infrastructure rather than on consultants. Public projects benefit from value-for-money analyses and priorities that invest in long-term infrastructure improvements. Regarding this, effective cost control enhances not only financial transparency but also public trust in fiscal prudence about projects.

• Leadership and Strategic Vision

Leadership has to play a very important role in aligning project objectives with those of organisational and public expectations. Effective leadership means to define a clear vision, communicate that vision to others, and change strategies according to emerging problems and resistance (Turner, 2005). In the Irish Water Scheme case, strategic leadership could have been more influential in gaining a better degree of public support and trust in the project’s goals. Research Studies have shown that to be successful, leaders of public-sector projects need to balance technical capability with the ability to engage and motivate stakeholders (Geraldi, 2018). For example, the Irish government may have framed the project as one that was essential to the environment as well as economically viable; thus, the public’s perception was such that the project was indeed the necessary next step in sustainability. The idea is that in strategic communication, the long-term benefit of projects for which immediate costs are more salient while the benefit is less salient should be emphasised. Besides, a good leader should be flexible and listen to public sentiments, which may need a reconsideration of certain project plans or messaging. In this regard, project leaders within the Irish government might have devised segmented communication strategies or staged implementation to quell the growing anxieties of the public.

• Public Policy and Regulatory Impact

The nature of public sector projects is often driven by policies and regulatory frameworks set for defining the scope, processes, and outcomes of projects (Winch, 2014). The Irish Water Meter Scheme was driven mainly by the compulsion to comply with the EU Water Framework Directive that called for improvements in water management in member states. However, policy implementation without the phased approach raised problems in poor public acceptance of the project and instigated instability. Policies that provide the pathway to sustainable management also tend to come with inflexible timescales and strict budgets, which offer little leeway for a project to accommodate all stakeholders. In this regard, regulatory frameworks work best, according to Müller (Müller, 2015). when they come with a clear indication of direction yet allow for some room for specific adaptability to the projects in question. Maybe in the case of the Irish Water scheme, a more flexible regulatory approach allowing for gradual compliance and pilot projects would be conducive to improving public buy-in. Policies also tend to be successful over more extended periods – provided, of course, that their conception and construction fall within the social and cultural contexts of the concerned stakeholders. One such construction of the current review of water charges in Ireland will be the principle of fair non-duplication. Therefore, aligning the public policy with the local and regional socio-economic realities becomes another very important insight for PM compliance with its local acceptance.