Irish democracy is being ‘strangled by proceduralism’ and red tape, according to former Barnardo's CEO Fergus Finlay.

In his latest column for the Irish Examiner, Mr Finlay warns that red tape has made it “almost impossible" for Irish democracies to make any changes.

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning he said Ireland has "ended up as a place where we have a policy for everything" but "the ability to implement almost nothing".

Mr Finlay said less red tape in other countries has meant that progress and development are achieved more efficiently.

"In a visit I made to Shanghai many years ago ... we were taken to a university town,” he said. “Tens of thousands of students; seven universities," he said.

"It hadn't existed at all seven years earlier – it was conceived of, designed, populated [and] planned within five to seven years," he said.

"If you compare it to what happens when a really well-functioning democracy like ours decides to build a National Children's Hospital, and years and years later, [they are] way over budget."

Planning

Ireland went through a period of being a "liberal democracy" where property developers could get "permission to do whatever you liked" without worrying about regulation or inspection, according to Mr Finlay.

"We've swung to the other extreme – for a very good reason," he said.

Mr Finlay said the housing project he is working on is held back by "20-odd steps" before planning can even begin.

"There are a further 20 steps between planning and building ... it's really, really badly needed," he said.

"The sensible thing to do in a rich country like ours is to do all the steps together."

"We're engaged in a whole series of planning things that have to be done sequentially – they should be done in parallel.

"They should all be happening at the same time; you would knock half the timeline off if we could do that. "