Report of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group

• The provision of quality customer service to the public.
1.5.3 The renewed Programme for Government committed to the provision
of democratic leadership for regional authorities and to the
strengthening of their strategic role across a range of functions.
1.5.4 The White Paper will respond to the issues referred to above as well
as to other issues which arose as part of the public consultation
process and the deliberations of the Cabinet Committee.
1.5.5 The approach to implementing recommendations of the Local
Government Efficiency Review Group, insofar as they relate to issues
around the delivery of shared services across county boundaries, or
the realignment of functions at county and town level, will depend
significantly on the final decisions of Government in relation to these
structures.
1.5.6 The Group considers, however, that there can be a coherence
between its recommendations and the decisions to be implemented
arising from the White Paper, including any possible
recommendations that may be made with regard to structures, which
could offer new opportunities to introduce new and more efficient
ways of doing business, and in providing services and democratic
representation to the public, which may not so easily arise when
operating with outdated structures which no longer correspond to
current needs.
1.6 OECD Review and Transforming Public Services
1.6.1 The OECD Review of the Public Service, and the subsequent report
of the Task Force on the Public Service ‘Transforming Public
Services’, both published in 2008, made a number of observations
about the local government system and how it interacts with other
parts of the public sector.
1.6.2 The OECD noted how subnational expenditure has grown rapidly in
Ireland, with the major growth areas in recent years including
environmental protection, road transportation, and water services.
This was attributed to the growth in population and major investment
plans in these areas, and the OECD commented on the need for
buoyant revenue sources for local government. The OECD also
noted that many services provided by local authorities continue to be
provided for free or at low cost, such as water supplied to domestic
consumers.
1.6.3 A key theme running through the OECD Review was the need for a
greater emphasis on performance, standardised information about
the impact of public services, and a focus on whether programmes or
services are achieving their goals or producing results. Performance
13