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Press release

NOAC ‘Good Practice in Local Government’ seminar showcases outstanding work of local authorities

The National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) held its seventh annual ‘Good Practice in Local Government’ seminar in Kilkenny today, Thursday 13 February. Six local authorities presented projects from their areas as leading examples of good practice.

For ten years, NOAC has been the independent body providing oversight of the local government sector. The organisation hosted this seminar in collaboration with the Local Government Management Agency and the County and City Management Association.

Speaking at the event, Michael McCarthy, Chair of NOAC, commented that:

“This event provides an excellent opportunity for local authorities to showcase projects that could be replicated across the sector. We want to celebrate these initiatives and encourage the sharing of knowledge, ideas and ways to improve the lives of the communities that they serve.

“The local government sector is changing at a very rapid pace and, over the years, this seminar has evolved and grown to reflect those changes."

The six projects featured include:

Clare County Council The use of technology to deliver effective tree management, cost savings and ensure public safety
Cork County Council Reinvigorating arts involvement and participation for Cruinniú na nÓg by enabling children, the end user, to programme it
Donegal County Council Applying new business practices and processes to replace manual processes, improve efficiencies and reduce costs under the Local Enterprise Office (LEO)
Kildare County Council Development of an application to ensure accurate and timely payment of commercial rates
Meath County Council Livestreaming local elections to give real-time information, to be the primary source of information and to show citizens how local elections work
Dublin City Council Creating social housing by converting vacant office buildings into apartments, using an ‘Adaptive Reuse’ process/approach

The seminar was attended by Chief Executives and senior officials from the local authorities within Ireland, officials from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, representatives of elected members and the regional assemblies, as well as a variety of other stakeholders in the local government sector.

A recording of all presentations, plus information on the projects, is available on the NOAC website.

Notes

NOAC is an independent statutory body established under the Local Government Reform Act 2014 to provide oversight of the local government sector in Ireland. Its functions are wide ranging and cover all local authority activities, involving the scrutiny of performance generally, and financial performance specifically. NOAC also has a role in supporting best practice, overseeing implementation of national local government policy and monitoring and evaluating implementation of corporate plans, adherence to service level agreements and public service reform by local government bodies.

NOAC produces a wide array of reports on the local government sector, as well as hosting events such as its annual Good Practice in Local Government Seminar and workshops on a wide variety of topics like customer service, audit committees, corporate planning, to name a few.

In terms of reports, its key output includes its annual Performance Indicator report which examines 45 indicators under 11 separate areas of housing, roads, planning, water, waste/environment, fire service, library/recreation, youth/community, corporate, finance and economic development. The report analyses data from all local authorities and tracks their performance for the particular year and provides trends over a ten year period.

Further, it reviews the individual performance of local authorities, through its Scrutiny Process. This process provides a picture of where a local authority is performing well and where it may wish to improve its performance, as well as highlighting areas of good practice which can be shared with other local authorities.

Six projects were discussed at today’s seminar which included:

Clare County Council Clare County Council have developed a tree survey application and a dashboard to deliver insights into tree species, diameter, height, crown spread, age, structural condition, recommendations, retention category, and risk rating.
This initiative enhances operational efficiency, optimizes resource allocation, and improves environmental planning, providing significant tangible benefits for sustainable urban development and ecological preservation. This innovative tool transforms tree management from reactive to proactive, delivering significant cost savings and improved public safety.
Cork County Council Cruinniú na nÓg is Ireland’s National Day of Creativity for Children and Young People. It is a flagship project of Creative Ireland and local authorities are responsible for delivering activities in their administrative areas.
Cork County Council’s Cruinniú na nÓg Programme 2024 was almost entirely programmed by the children of Cork County through the “My Creative Wish” Initiative. This new approach to the programme led to increased participation, meaningful engagement and community awareness.
The project involved youth consultation, through My Creative Wish, with the children and young people of Cork in order to ascertain their needs and wants in terms of the programme.
The process included:
Over 700 submissions being received from 36 schools.
17 winning submissions being selected to receive six weeks of workshops with professional creative practitioners for their classes.
13 runners up received 4 tickets to taster workshops in libraries.
The initiative resulted in a 450% increase in participation, more meaningful engagement, a rise in public awareness of Cruinniú na nÓg and saw 75% of all library events fully subscribed as a result of this work.
Donegal County Council The Local Enterprise Office (LEO) in Donegal engaged in a pilot Lean initiative as an opportunity to enhance customer service and drive internal efficiencies. The Lean methodology emphasises the elimination of waste, continuous improvement, and the optimization of processes.
The Lean for Business initiative is a programme offered by LEOs to small business clients across Ireland, encouraging the adoption of Lean business principles to increase performance and drive competitiveness.
LEO Donegal adopted the Lean tools and techniques as an opportunity not only to understand better the programme on offer to business clients but also as a vehicle to review the internal processes in place in the LEO, improve operations and create a more innovative organisation.
Implementing Lean in the Local Enterprise Office involved:
Engagement of the full team in understanding the theory & practical application of the Lean technique.
Provision of Certified Yellow Belt Standard training to 5 interested internal champions.
Mapping of Internal Processes to identify and eliminate waste.
Adoption of LEAN methodology as a tool in the digitalisation and standardisation of processes.
Use of the technique as an approach to problem solving and continuous improvement.
Identification, selection, and development of Lean Improvement projects.
Whilst still at an early stage, the project has helped to transform internal processes, accelerate digital transformation and enhance service delivery.
As a result of the initiative, LEO Donegal has digitalised all processes including enquiries, grant applications and grant payments, enhanced service delivery response times and increased productivity. Most importantly, the methodology offered a framework to create a culture of continuous improvement with a focus on the customer.
Kildare County Council Kildare County Council’s initiative is a joint collaboration between its Commercial Rates Department, GIS and Development Teams on the development of an application.
The application uses keys datasets such as GeoDirectory, Planning Permission Data, Rates Valuation Data, Agresso and Debt Management Data to ensure the Council is capturing all new commercial properties and maximising its rates income from over 5,000 properties that generate rates of over €63 million.
The application also includes a commencement notice application to ensure any newly commenced rateable properties are captured and sent for rating.
The teams are also currently expanding this work to further enhance this application including an interface with Tailte Éireann.
This application has enabled the teams to move from a field-based collection approach to a hybrid approach that enables analysis on any device in any work setting.
Meath County Council In June 2024, local elections were held in all 31 local authorities across Ireland. There were 40 seats to be filled across six Municipal Districts in Meath with over 90 candidates running, with Simonstown Count Centre being a bustling hub of activity.
A number of challenges being faced in terms of communications during this time included:
Ensuring that every citizen in Meath would have access to real-time information, regardless of whether they were physically present.
To provide news promptly and to be the primary source of information for updates online, particularly given the prevalence of social media and the ability to deliver news instantly. This included competing with candidates, journalists, and other stakeholders in the count centre.
To raise citizen awareness about the workings of a local election.
While the candidates, election staff, and local press could fully experience the count centre and witness the work of the Council and the democratic process first-hand, this opportunity was only available to a select few. The goal was to find a way to bring this experience to all Meath’s citizens.
It was proposed to livestream the event, a ground-breaking concept for an Irish local election. By live streaming the event on a virtual platform, this would allow for the promotion of the event on social media, increased engagement rates and sharing of the process with others who wouldn’t normally participate.
The output of the initiative allowed the online audience to receive information simultaneously with those attending in person, making Meath County Council the main source of information on the local election.
The video of the event is available to the public and can be used as an educational resource with the ability to share the URL with educational institutions throughout the county. Furthermore, the Council can use the video for future election preparations.
Dublin City Council The Adaptive Reuse Unit in Dublin City Council was established in 2022 within the Housing and Community Services Department. As an innovation unit, it was tasked with establishing a new housing development mechanism that would create social housing by acquiring and converting vacant commercial property to homes.
The project in question nominated as an example of showcasing innovation and good practice is the Adaptive Reuse Project Creating Social Housing From Vacant Office Buildings on Fitzwilliam Quay in Dublin 4.
The building in question became available on the market in 2023 and Dublin City Council carried out a feasibility study and developed a proposal for the conversion of the buildings to apartments for use as social housing.
Funding was secured through the DHLGH Social Housing Investment Programme to acquire the buildings and convert them to 15 apartments at a total cost of circa €420,000 per apartment. This represents excellent value for money for social housing delivery in a high-value property location.
The vacant office building was acquired by Dublin City Council in March 2024 with 15 new social housing apartments are planned for delivery in 2026.
The reuse of existing buildings to create new homes is a key means of achieving carbon reduction targets in the coming years, and is consistent with the approach set out in the Irish Green Building Council’s Roadmap to 2030. In particular, the building in question is located in an area identified as a designated decarbonisation zone and the project is being delivered as an exemplar climate action project.
Additionally, the project involves the reuse of the fittings and fixtures in advance of the main works to convert the office building to apartments. The project complies with national & local government best practice and policy in relation to the circular economy.
The building is also be used as a community hub for climate action promotion and support by Dublin City Council’s Climate Action Office. This will ensure that the maximum potential of the building can be harnessed, and corporate policy aimed at addressing underuse of vacant buildings is complied with.

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