Dublin City Council has been named Local Authority of the Year 2008 at Chambers Ireland’s 5th annual Excellence in Local Government Award at a ceremony last night (06/11/08) attended by over 520 local authorities officials and chamber representatives. The awards were held in association with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

Congratulating Dublin City Council and all award winners, David Pierce, Chambers Ireland President said, “Dublin City Council was recognised for its consistent efforts to enhance both the quality of life and liveability agenda of Dublin’s residents while also consistently working in partnership with business as a stakeholder.”

Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, John Gormley T.D. said “This is the fifth year of Chambers Ireland’s awards in association with the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government.  The awards aim to acknowledge and encourage innovation and best practice among Ireland’s local authorities and I am very pleased to be associated with them.”

Addressing the issue of the recently introduced 200 euro levy on second properties, Pierce said “As the main partner of local government around the country the Chamber network greatly values the work that Local Government undertakes on our behalf. We have also long recognised the need for new revenues for local authorities to be derived from non-business sources.”

“Chambers Ireland has consistently called for this levy. However, we are concerned that whilst the tax is to be collected by local authorities, the income raised will be distributed centrally via the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. We fear that Local Authorities will have no real incentive to collect this tax but instead will see it as yet another administrative burden. Income raised from this new system should stay where the tax is gathered. Any disparities that arise should be levelled out via the Local Authority Fund,” Pierce concluded.

The event was supported by: AIB; An Post; CBRE; ESB Networks; Hibernian Health; Vodafone and Zurich.

Awards were also sponsored by Boots; the Office of the Ombudsman; and RPS Planning and Environment.

Each winner was presented with a specially commissioned trophy designed by Waterford Crystal.

Why Dublin City Council was selected

Dublin City Council was selected for its ongoing efforts to promote its area as a location of choice for people to live, work, invest and visit. The judges noted the quality of its efforts across a broad range of categories, including:

·          Partnership with Business

·          Energy efficiency

·          Physical and Social infrastructure

·          Outstanding customer service 

Judging Panel

Joe Allen, Principal Officer in the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government
John Cullen, Director General of the Institute of Public Administration
Hilary Haydon, Hilary Haydon and Company and Chair of Chambers Ireland’s Ratepayers Policy Council
David Pierce, President, Chambers Ireland
Aodh Quinlivan of the Department of Government in UCC  

Chambers Ireland is Ireland’s largest business network with 60 member chambers representing 13,000 businesses on the island of Ireland.