ADR UK Ambassadors

Denis McMahon

Permanent Secretary, Northern Ireland Department of Infrastructure

What would you like to achieve in your role as an ADR UK Ambassador?

I want to raise the profile of administrative data as a source of insight in policymaking. If we are to make a difference in our society, we will need people-centred analyses that show what happens at different stages of the life cycle, and how different factors can come together to create an outcome. Tackling issues such as poverty, economic inactivity, educational needs, and health will be central to improving the wellbeing of our people.  New insights will provide us with new opportunities to design and deliver policy interventions which will help those people who need it most now. Importantly, however, they will also create virtuous cycles of change for people who have yet to be born. While every data source has its own strengths and weaknesses, the kinds of insights which administrative datasets bring will be invaluable in creating change.

For these reasons, I am committed to advocating for administrative data research within the Northern Ireland Civil Service and beyond. This will mean the ADR UK resource being effectively integrated to inform policy and practice. ADR UK’s infrastructure of government bodies and accredited researchers provides scope for much richer evidence developed in a safe, legal, ethical way. It would be particularly important to embed appropriate processes that allow departments to highlight their ongoing research needs in a way that enables ADR NI and the wider ADR UK to develop high value portfolios of research; portfolios which speak directly to our most fundamental societal needs.

Why do you feel it’s important to advocate for better research use of administrative data?

Using administrative data can be challenging, but it is worth it for the insights. Administrative datasets can cover the entire population, or whole subsets of it. This in turn means that we can understand the scale of the issues which we are dealing with; and it means that we can begin to model the impacts of different scenarios with a view to planning specific interventions. The linkage of timely and robust data sources can bring incredible, fresh insights to change makers for the huge benefit of society. We can plug important evidence gaps and begin to answer the big questions; but this type of initiative can also help us shape better questions and form better hypotheses, by looking at a much richer data picture across key areas such as health, education, economy, justice, and climate. We owe it to people to use government data in the best possible ways for their maximum benefit, harnessing public support and engagement as part of the process.

Are there any recent developments in the field of administrative data research that you’re particularly excited about?

These are exciting times, where technology is providing us with uniquely powerful insights into what works. I attended the ADR UK Ambassador Event in March 2024 as my first proper exposure to the detail of this initiative and was most impressed with the ongoing work and commitment across the partnership. Having met several times with the ADR NI team, I am also delighted to see the work being undertaken across the Northern Ireland trusted research environments in NISRA and the Business Services Organisation’s Honest Broker Service. From the insights being generated by linking longitudinal secondary educational data (and ultimately tertiary education and pathways to employment), linked NI business data from survey sources; or linkages to enable a better understanding of the causes and consequences of homelessness, or outcomes for looked after children, all of these will bring new clarity for government leaders.