Mr. Paul Reid:

On behalf of the CCMA I thank the committee for the opportunity to present on the local economic and community plans. My name is Paul Reid, chief executive of Fingal County Council. I am accompanied by my colleagues, Mr. Pat Dowling, chief executive of Clare County Council, and Ms Dorothy Clarke, director of services, Sligo County Council. We are pleased to present alongside our colleagues with the Association of Irish Local Government.

Allow me first to present some key data on the local economic and community plans. There are 31 local economic and community plans, all prepared by the local community and development committees, LCDCs, adopted by the elected members and chambers and submitted to the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. The 31 local economic and community plans commit to over 5,000 actions in the areas of economic development, social inclusion, community development, health and well-being, rural and urban regeneration, investment and infrastructure. Over 1,700 organisations are mobilised locally to deliver these actions. These include: Government Departments; State agencies such as IDA, Enterprise Ireland and the HSE; development organisations; and a wide range of local community and voluntary groups.

Through the public participation networks, PPNs, the LCDCs provide a mechanism by which the community and voluntary sector can meaningfully participate in local development. This recognises the role they play in delivering economic, social and environmental initiatives and implementing the particular actions of the local community and economic plans. There are 11,137 community and voluntary group on PPNs throughout Ireland. Already, the local economic and community plans provide a framework by which significant investment will be made. For example, the LCDC is the main approval body for the Leader programme investing over €191 million in local areas between 2014 and 2020. The social inclusion community activation programme, SICAP, will see €37.4 million invested in social inclusion programmes throughout the country in 2016. The LCDC is also seen as the decision body in the Border counties for the Ireland–Northern Ireland PEACE programme.

The remainder of the presentation provides a brief overview of the key success factors that are necessary to deliver the objectives and actions set out in the local economic and community plans. Local authorities have always played a central role in the democratic, social, economic and cultural development of local areas. City and county councils throughout Ireland have been providing infrastructure, amenities and services designed to improve local areas as places to live, visit and invest. Since the roll-out of better local government in the late 1990s, the local government sector has been playing a central role in co-ordinating partnerships to foster local and regional development. The county and city development boards, CDBs, represented an effort to co-ordinate the activities of State agencies, local development companies and the community and voluntary sector to deliver integrated county and city strategies.

An independent review of the CDBs found they were "the key co-ordinating body at local level". The recommendations of the review were "designed to develop and strengthen the CDBs and to realise their potential to make a significant contribution to the key challenge of effective local service delivery". In 2010, the local government efficiency review group, LGER, also recommended strengthening the role of CDBs. This was accepted by the Government which, in 2012, published An Action Programme for Local Government - Putting People First. The policy stated that "local government will be the main vehicle of governance and public service at local level, leading economic, social and community development". It subsequently emerged as the Local Government Reform Act 2014.

The remit of local authorities has been broadened, with a strengthened role in local community, economic and cultural development. From an economic perspective, local authorities play a key role in putting in place initiatives to stimulate the local economy and support business in creating employment. We work with key State agencies such as the IDA in attracting foreign direct investment opportunities into Ireland. For Irish indigenous business, we put in place many supports to enable their organisations to grow. Since 2014, the Local Enterprise Offices, LEOs, play a pivotal role in supporting entrepreneurs, start-up businesses, people with a business idea and helping small business to scale up. Indeed the LEOs are now an integral part of the local authority providing businesses with a broader range of supports at a local level. The LEOs are a one-stop-shop providing enterprise advice, coaching, management development and expertise on routes to new markets. In addition, the financial supports available to eligible businesses have proven to be a critical element in the success stories of many of Ireland's latest generation of high performing start ups. Because there is a LEO in every county, the service can help bring greater balance to Ireland’s economic recovery.

We are playing a key role supporting the digital society and the roll-out of the national broadband plan. Local authorities are instrumental in the delivery of the tourism action plan, specifically the development and marketing of the new tourism brands and the promotion of new tourist attractions at a local level. Our work in tourism can be of particular benefit to local communities throughout the country. While job creation has been steadily improving, the unemployment rate remains at 7.5% and is considerably higher in some regions. Tourism offers two key benefits in this regard. First, it can provide economic activity across all of our regions and rural areas, whereas many other growing sectors are concentrated in Dublin and our other cities. Second, given that it is labour intensive, it can provide a substantial level of employment across communities and at all skill levels.

We will continue to support our national tourism agencies in developing new visitor attractions and growing visitor numbers throughout Ireland. The sector delivered a series of top-class events to commemorate the centenary of 1916. As the only sector with an administrative and democratic infrastructure at a local level, and with a track record of agility and service delivery, we envisage and look forward to a continued expansion of the role of local authorities in the future.

The Local Government Reform Act 2014 provided local authorities with the legislative framework to underpin this co-ordinating role. The Act provided for the establishment of the LCDCs and the preparation of local economic and community plans. Two key provisions in the Act strengthen the ability of the LCDCs to deliver the actions set out in the various plans.

First, the strength of the LCDC lies in its composition. The membership of the LCDC is critical to the delivery of the actions set out in the local economic and community plans. The Act clearly provides for a role for the local elected members and the chief executive of the city or county council, the voluntary sector, community groups and agencies that are central to the delivery of public services in local areas. The combination of political and community leadership and agency involvement means the LCDC is best positioned to mobilise relevant groups to deliver the local economic and community plan. Importantly, the LCDCs are configured so they can act as local action groups, LAGs, for EU funded programmes. This improves the scope to resource the actions set out in the local economic and community plans as evidenced by the Leader and PEACE programmes.

Second, the Act clearly states that public bodies must cooperate with the LCDCs. This has been very significant and helpful. There was no such obligation for public bodies to co-operate with the CDBs in the past. The obligation for public bodies to cooperate with the LCDCs greatly strengthens the potential to deliver agreed actions that are ultimately designed to improve the economic, social or cultural fabric of local areas.

Another critical success factor to the delivery of the objectives of the local economic and community plans is that a robust approach was taken to their preparation, which involved: the establishment of advisory steering groups in each local authority; evidence based objectives that involved in-depth socio-economic profiling and analysis of local areas; extensive public consultation; and engagement with the elected members through the strategic policy committees, SPCs, and the municipal districts. Adoption of final draft of the plan was a reserved function. Finally, the plans were submitted to the Minister and have recently been published. This ensured the plans were evidence based and informed by a combination of good practice, local insight, political leadership and community engagement.

The preparation of 31 separate local economic and community plans poses a question. How do we avoid duplication and ensure collaboration for the greater good? The link between the LCDC and the local authority is essential to ensure that the benefits of implementation of over 5,000 actions are felt at local, regional and national levels. Locally, the plans must be consistent with the county or city development plans. Regionally, the local economic and community plans are being used by the regional assemblies to inform the regional economic spatial strategies. In addition, local authorities, in partnership with the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, are playing a central role in the co-ordination and delivery of the regional action plans for jobs.

The plans will inform the national planning framework and are consistent with Enterprise 2025, the Government’s enterprise policy. Importantly, the plans were informed by a range of European Union and national policies and strategies, including the findings of the Commission for Economic Development of Rural Areas. Thus, the local economic and community plans, LECPs, play a key role in regional and national planning and development.

Accepting that the local community development committees, LCDCs, were only recently established and the LECPs were launched in September this year, the CCMA makes the following recommendations designed to ensure that the actions of the LECPs can be delivered. First, where appropriate, relevant EU or Exchequer-funded programmes should be channelled through the LCDC to ensure they are consistent with the vision and objectives of the local economic and community plans. Second, there should be consistency in the approach taken to the role of the LCDCs in the implementation of EU and Exchequer-funded programmes in all local areas. Third, the administration of the LCDCs should be properly resourced and supported. Finally, we should ensure there is robust evidence of the success or otherwise of the LCDC in implementing the LECPs.

We propose that the CCMA engage with the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government to prepare a suitable methodology for the monitoring, evaluation and reporting of the plans. The CCMA will continue to engage meaningfully with the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government and other relevant Departments to identify the most appropriate means of delivering public services at a local level.

The CCMA is convinced that the delivery of over 5,000 actions set out in the 31 local economic and community plans will improve the quality of lives of citizens at a local level. This will ultimately strengthen regional and national development. The ability to deliver these actions lies in the membership the LCDCs and their links to the local government sector both politically and administratively. It is important that the actions are resourced. The CCMA will work with Departments and State agencies to seek mechanisms by which the actions of the LECPs can be funded through LCDCs. The LCDCs provide the mechanism for communities, development organisations, State agencies and Departments to work together to achieve shared objectives, improving the quality of life of citizens throughout Ireland. I understand that I have used many acronyms and we look forward to answering any questions members may wish to pose.