If this was a secondary school exam, a quarter of us would have failed.
Galway City Council has the most integrity of all local councils in the Republic of Ireland, a new study has revealed.
Unfortunately, Galway’s County Council has the least integrity, so everything balances out really.
The results come as part of a study into local government which aims to promote greater levels of transparency, accountability and ethics in Ireland.
Conducted by Transparency International Ireland between July 2017 and February 2018, the report, titled ‘Transparent, Accountability and Ethics in Local Authorities’ assesses 31 local authorities across 26 counties on a total of 30 different indicators.
Each indicator falls into three different categories; transparency, accountability and ethics, with these including issues such as publishing of minutes, budgets, councillor expenses and planning applications online, and whether the authority adequately handles Freedom of Information requests.
If an indicator is fulfilled, one point is awarded, and the full breakdown can be viewed here.
The ranking order of the councils with the greatest level of integrity is as follows:
1. Galway City Council: 21/30 – 70%
2. Fingal County Council: 19/19 – 68%
= South Dublin County Council: 19/19 – 68
4. Dublin City Council: 18/30 – 60%
= Monaghan County Council: 18/30 – 60%
6. Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council: 17/30 – 57%
= Laois County Council: 17/30 – 57%
=Meath County Council: 17/30 – 57%
9. Kerry County Council: 16/30 – 53%
= Kildare County Council: 16/30 – 53%
11. Clare County Council: 15/30 – 50%
= Cork City Council: 15/30 – 50%
= Limerick City and County Council: 15/30 – 50%
= Roscommon City Council: 15/30 – 50%
= Tipperary County Council: 15/30 – 50%
16. Leitrim County Council: 14/30 – 47%
17. Donegal County Council: 13/30 – 43%
= Longford County Council: 13/30 – 43%
19. Cavan County Council: 12/30 – 40%
= Louth County Council: 12/30 – 40%
= Mayo County Council: 12/30 – 40%
= Sligo County Council: 12/30 – 40%
= Wicklow County Council: 12/30 – 40%
24. Cork County Council: 11/30 – 37%
= Kilkenny County Council: 11/30 – 37%
= Westmeath County Council: 11/30 – 37%
27. Carlow County Council: 10/30 – 33%
28. Offaly County Council: 9/30 – 30%
= Waterford City and County Council: 9/30 – 30%
30. Wexford County Council: 7/30 – 23%
31. Galway County Council: 5/30 – 17%
It is important to note, however, these scores do not necessarily indicate which is the most or least transparent, accountable or ethical councils.
Instead, it shows which ones have the best systems and practices to ensure these factors are actively promoted.
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