Welcome to All things Ireland
Welcome to All Things Ireland, the new weekly overview brought to you by LGIU Ireland team. This edition looks at back at the week and includes a comprehensive weekly breakdown of All Things local government in Ireland.
This week, LGIU Ireland heard from Galway City Council about Active Travel in the West of Ireland and how they became the first Irish Council to implement a City Centre School Street. You can find the full account from Galway City Council here.
From the LGIU Ireland team
- The climate of COP27: the state of play and what lies ahead. This briefing focuses on the forthcoming Sharm El-Sheikh Climate Change Conference from the 6th – 18th November 2022, more informally referred to as COP27.
- In Conversation with the Council behind the “Halloween capital of the world”. As we countdown the days to Halloween, the LGIU speaks to Aeidin McCarter, the person responsible for Derry and Strabane Council being the “Halloween Capital of the World”.
- Reform of Ireland’s Planning Appeals Board. This briefing examines the background to the Action Plan and outlines the major reforms which have been approved by the Government and announced by the Minister.
- Mixed-methods area profiling and reflections urban regeneration. This briefing paper recounts experiences of compiling a socio-economic profile of neighbourhoods that were included in an area-based urban-regeneration initiative in Tralee, County Kerry. It was commissioned by the local development company and involved a mixed-methods approach.
- Levels of satisfaction and attitudes towards local authorities. This is the latest briefing in our series dealing with the National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) reports. We examine this most recent effort to appraise both attitudes towards local authorities and the level of services being provided by Ireland’s 31 local authorities.
The week in Irish Local Government
Planning
This week details were released for the Residential Zoned Land Tax. Introduced in the Finance Act 2021, The Residential Zoned Land Tax is a new tax aimed at increasing housing supply by activating zoned, serviced residential development lands (including mixed-use lands) for housing. Read more here.
Wexford County Council’s funding application was approved by the Office of Public Works Minor Flood Mitigation Works and Coastal Protection Scheme. Under the scheme, funding of €44,218 is set for a Feasibility Study at Bridgemeadows, Co Wexford. To find out more, click here.
Finance
Department of Finance released the fiscal monitor for October 2022. Exchequer figures show that tax revenues to end-October were €63.9 billion, a 25% increase from last year. Find out more here.
Housing
The government published its first annual update of Housing for All. Under the plan, supply of new homes is increasing with 20,807 new homes completed in the first three quarters of the year, more than the whole of 2021 (20,560) or any other year since the CSO series began in 2011. Check out the full report and reactions here.
Society
Minister for Social Protection announced a double Child Benefit payment will be paid this week to support 638,000 families with the cost of living. The measure means that €280 will be paid in respect of 1.2 million children across the State. Read here.
Dublin North Inner City, Longford and Waterford are set to host a pilot Local Community Safety Partnerships (LCSPs) scheme. LCSPs aim to combat anti-social behaviour by creating a tailored local community safety plan with input from the local community and public services. Once the LCSPs are rolled out to your area, you can get involved by contacting your local authority or your local community safety coordinator. Find out more here.
Transport
This week three new Greenway and road projects will be open for locals and visitors in Kerry. Funded by Department of Transport and delivered by Kerry County Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland, click here to read more from Chief Executive of Kerry County Council, Moira Murrell.
Community
67 projects are to be funded under the International Protection Integration Fund 2022. With every county in Ireland set to benefit via multiple projects, the Fund aims to enable community based organisations across Ireland to play a greater role in supporting the integration of International Protection applicants at local and national level. Find more about the projects here.
Northern Ireland
Ahead of Northern Ireland’s local government elections in 2024, the Northern Ireland Local Government Association launched a new campaign to encourage people of all backgrounds, abilities, sexes, genders, sexual orientations, and races to step forward for election. Find out more here.
Environment
A study from COFORD on the economic activity and employment levels in the Irish Forest Sector showed the economic contribution to the economy is estimated at over €2 billion per annum. The full report is available here.
On a lighter note…
Cork City’s first Cost Rental apartment Scheme opened this week. Delivered in partnership by Cork City Council, Clúid Housing, O’Callaghan Properties, and CField Construction, a Cost Rental Scheme means rents must be a minimum of 25% below open market values.
Remarking upon the projects completion, Cork City Council Chief Executive, Ann Doherty commented that this “represents an exciting evolution in the realisation of much-needed affordable and social homes in Cork City”. Find out more about Cork City Council and the Cost Rental Scheme here.
Coming up…
Looking ahead into next week, LGIU Ireland is set to bring you all the latest on housing and will review everything local government related in the latest Oireachtas report.
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