Report of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group

6.4.7 This will require joint management structures to be put in place across these
local authority areas to drive such a process, with the attendant implications
for the levels of staffing required at county/ city manager and director of
service level. Managers will be expected simultaneously to manage two
counties within a joint administrative area. This is necessary to drive the
process of extracting efficiency gains from the corporate areas and other
service areas through the integration of these areas into a joint
administrative function across both authorities in the cluster (efficiencies in
other functional areas are dealt with separately below).
6.4.8 In addition to corporate services, the manager for each joint administrative
area will also be expected to work towards achieving synergies and
integration to the greatest extent possible in relation to the range of services
performed by local authorities.
6.4.9 A reduction in manager and director of service staffing levels of one per joint
administrative area (10 in total) would yield a WTE staffing saving of 20
senior managerial staff. There is a historical precedent for one manager
being responsible for two counties, as several managers were responsible
for more than one county in the past. The local government arrangements
for Limerick will be addressed as part of the work of the Limerick Local
Government Committee. Nevertheless, the Group is persuaded that there is
also a case, at a minimum, for joint administration in respect of Limerick city
and county.
6.5 Dublin City and Cork City
6.5.1 The major urban authorities (Dublin city and Cork city) have higher staffing
levels than elsewhere in the country (see Figure 6.6). This may in part be
justified by certain agency roles (for example the fact that Dublin City
Council provides fire services, water and motor tax services on behalf of
surrounding counties), as well as the additional workload Dublin carries by
virtue of being a capital city with an international peer grouping. Cities also
experience additional demands for services by virtue of the fact that they
host a large daytime population made up of people who live outside the city
(for example commuters and shoppers) and who are therefore not captured
in census data and population ratios. Nonetheless, the potential for greater
scale efficiencies needs to be examined in both cities, especially given that
their combined staffing level represents almost 25% of total local
government staffing.
6.5.2 Given the scale of Dublin city and Cork city, and the levels of staffing
associated with both, a further independent exercise should be undertaken
to examine the potential for efficiencies. Further detailed analysis, having
regard to the complexities involved and the time available to the Group,
would need to be dealt with separately. Such an exercise would need to
address the fact that despite their scale, the two authorities have the highest
levels of staff per 1,000 of population across the sector (12.8 / 1,000 for
Dublin and 11.9 for Cork). Both local authorities also have large numbers of
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