Catch-Up-Counties.Pdf

Contents

The Catch-Up Communities ...... 2 Where are the Catch-up Counties? ...... 2 How Wicklow, Meath and Kildare fall behind ...... 4 How can we help the Catch-up Counties? ...... 5 What the data says: Population ...... 6 Population Changes (absolute numbers) ...... 6 Population Changes (percentages) ...... 7 What the data says: Allocations ...... 8 Average Class Size (Primary School) ...... 8 Local Primary and Community Care Staff ...... 9 Garda Numbers ...... 11 Commuting ...... 12 Local Authority Expenditure ...... 13 Local Authority Staff ...... 15 Local Authority Fire Services ...... 16 Public Libraries ...... 17 Local Authority Rents ...... 18 Local Authority Grants ...... 19 Satisfaction with Local Authorities ...... 20 Sports Funding ...... 21 Adult Literacy Funding ...... 22

The Catch-Up Phenomenon

One of the basic functions of Government is to spend tax revenues fairly. Every part of Ireland should expect their fair share of these revenues and for state resources to be distributed on the basis of clearly identified needs. To help achieve this, we should have funding systems that are open, transparent, and match resources to these needs. Critically, emerging needs, and sound planning for these in terms of funding and workforce, should form a central part of all resourcing decisions. But the reality in Ireland is very different. Unfortunately, the evidence we outline in this document shows that Ireland’s resource allocation systems are completely imbalanced. In particular, current funding systems are not serving areas of high population growth with the result that several counties have fallen behind in a number of key public services. In effect, areas of high population growth are constantly playing catch-up as resources are stretched across ever growing numbers. This “catch-up” process dominates every aspect of life in these communities. It basically means that these communities are not getting their fair share of public services. They have been left behind. These are the catch-up communities. These are the catch-up counties. And it’s time they received the resources they deserve. Where are the Catch-up Counties?

In this document, the Social Democrats want to shine a light on just how under-funded these catch-up communities are. We show how Ireland’s funding systems have disadvantaged areas of high population growth across a large number of public services. We show that, relative to the population they are serving, the catch-up communities have far fewer Gardaí, far fewer Teachers, far fewer community health staff, and far fewer Council staff. Catch-up communities fall behind on measures such as funding for adult literacy, sports, and basic Council services such as libraries and fire services.

And due to the lack of transport planning and investment in their areas, catch- up communities also typically have the longest average commuting times. We draw on a large number of sources to highlight this phenomenon. As most data available to us is available at county level, we are concentrating our analysis on that level. The data points heavily towards Meath and Kildare being the worst affected counties in Ireland. These counties are bottom of the pile on a broad range of basic public services such as Garda numbers, Pupil-Teacher ratios, health staff, Council staff, Council expenditure and fire services. They are also below average in almost every other measure. Much of the data also points to significant issues in Wicklow. Wicklow is one of the worst resourced counties in Ireland when it comes to Gardaí, Pupil- Teacher ratio, and local heath staff. It has the second worst commuting times in the country and is well below average in areas such as adult literacy and Council spending. Unfortunately, it is much more difficult to isolate disaggregated comparable data on individual communities within counties but we use such data where feasible. We are confident that what we show here is emulated in new communities right around the country in places such as Fingal, Galway County, Cork County, and South Dublin County Council, and in parts of Carlow, Louth, Laois, Westmeath, Wexford and other areas. We highlight these areas where the data allows.

How Wicklow, Meath and Kildare fall behind We’ve summarised the data presented in this document for these three counties, to show how they fare in the unfair allocation of resources, relative to their populations, against the national data.

Gardaí Student/ Commute Local Local Fire Service (p/1000) Teacher Length Authority Authority Expenditure Ratio (mins) Spending Staff (per capita) (per (p/1000) capita)

Wicklow 2.24 25.1 34.5 € 672 5.05 39.55

National 5th Worst 4th Worst 2nd Worst 3rd Worst Below Avg 5th Worst Ranking

Meath 1.69 25.6 34.6 €568 3.54 31.56

National Worst Worst Worst Worst Worst 2nd Worst Ranking

Kildare 1.78 25.5 33.8 €685 4.05 30.49

National 2nd Worst 2nd Worst 3rd Worst 4th Worst 2nd Worst Worst Ranking

How can we help the Catch-up Counties? Our proposals to achieve fair allocation of resources, drawn from the data presented here are:

➢ Ireland needs to completely re-model how we identify needs and allocate resources. It is vital that services and investments are allocated on the basis of planned population and identified need. This is particularly important in the context of the National Planning Framework and the National Development Plan that is allocating close to €120bn of tax payer funds over ten years. ➢ Ireland should allocate resources rationally and on the basis of pre-agreed criteria which should themselves be subject to review every three years. ➢ The direct allocation of resources to specific locations/regions should never be at the discretion of a Minister and should be kept completely separate from the political process. ➢ As part of re-modelling, and while we accept that there are many relevant determinants of need, population should be accepted as the starting point and given the greatest weighting in resource allocation. ➢ Ireland needs sustained investment in public services to meet service deficits and growing population across the country. But crucially, that investment needs to address existing imbalances. Allocations should not be on the basis of an “everyone in the audience” approach but be done based on identified needs and deficits. Allocations that are made on a county basis should be made with strong consideration of the existing population of that county and not merely on the basis of having County status.

What the data says: Population The following charts shows some of the data that demonstrates that the model of resource allocation across the country is no longer fit for purpose, if it ever was. Let’s start with population. We propose that population should be the starting point for deciding on fair allocation. The latest Census data by county available to us is 2016. Comparing that census with the census of 20 years previously gives us a picture of how population in Ireland has changed during that time. Population Changes (absolute numbers) The following graph shows that Fingal, Cork County, Kildare and Meath have had the highest population increases in absolute terms.

Population increase 1996-2016 Fingal

Kildare

Dublin City

Galway Co. Co

Wicklow

Laois

Donegal

Tipperary

Clare

Cavan

Waterford City and…

Mayo

Carlow

Longford

Sligo

Cork City 0 50000 100000 150000

Source: Central Statistics Office

Population Changes (percentages) The following graph shows the percentage increase in population during the same period. It highlights that Meath, Fingal, Kildare and Laois have experienced the highest population increases in percentage terms.

% Change in Population 1996-2016

Meath Fingal Kildare Laois Cavan Wexford Cork County Westmeath Louth Wicklow Galway City Co Carlow Galway Co. Co Longford Offaly Kilkenny Leitrim South Dublin Clare Roscommon Waterford City and Co. Donegal Monaghan Tipperary Limerick City & Co. Sligo Kerry Mayo Dublin City Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown Cork City -2.00 40.00 82.00

Source: Central Statistics Office

What the data says: Allocations The following pages outline how many of the counties experiencing the biggest increases in population are the now the poorest resourced in percentage terms. This is the catch-up counties phenomenon and the data is drawn from a wide range of indicators. Average Class Size (Primary School) The first example of the catch-up phenomenon is the Average Class Size for Primary Schools. Following are the most up-to date figures for the average class sizes as published by the Irish Times in July 2019 and drawn from Department of Education data. This clearly shows the counties with the worst pupil teacher ratios are in Meath, Kildare, Carlow and Wicklow.

Average Class Size by County, 2018/2019

Kildare

Wicklow

Louth

Wexford

Laois

Monaghan

Cork

Kerry

Offaly

Galway

Longford

Clare

Mayo 22.00 22.50 23.00 23.50 24.00 24.50 25.00 25.50 26.00

Source: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/one-in-five-primary-school-students-in-classes-of-at- least-30-1.3974529

Local Primary and Community Care Staff Next, is a chart drawn from a recent ESRI report on the supply of primary and community care services by area. While almost every area has a shortcoming in their local health services of one kind or another, Kildare, Meath, Wexford and Wicklow are the worst resourced in terms of staff per capita. This has significant implications for the quantity and quality of community health services that can be delivered in these areas, such as Public Health Nursing, Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language therapy. It means that in many cases, people end up paying privately for such services.

Source: Samantha Smith, Brendan Walsh, Maev--Ann Wren, Steve Barron, Edgar Morgenroth, James Eighan and Seán Lyons; Geographic Profile of Health care Needs and Non-Acute Health-care Supply in Ireland See also https://www.esri.ie/sites/default/files/media/file-uploads/2019-09/Smith_ESRI_Final.pdf

The ESRI paper highlighted the following: “The Greater Dublin commuter belt and South East counties have lower relative supply of many non-acute primary and community care services than the national average. Kildare and Meath have lower relative supply (at least 10 per cent lower than the national average) for all non-acute community and primary care services. Wexford and Wicklow have lower relative supply (at least 10 per cent lower than the national average) for seven of the eight non-acute community and primary care services examined.”

Garda Numbers Next, we turn to Garda numbers. The following graph shows how different areas of the country are faring in respect of Gardaí allocated to their area per head of population. This provides yet another picture of the gross imbalance in how resources are allocated, with Meath and Kildare far behind other areas. We accept that population is not the only determining factor in the allocation of Gardaí but there is clearly something wrong with the allocation system when two counties are so far behind the rest.

Garda Numbers by Area per Captia, Sept 2019

Westmeath Sligo/Leitrim Waterford Limerick Roscommon/Longford Louth Dublin Donegal Cavan/Monaghan Clare Mayo Cork Galway Tipperary Kerry Laois/Offaly Wicklow Kilkenny/Carlow Wexford Kildare Meath

1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00

Source: Derived from published Garda numbers, 30sth September 2019. Data available here… https://www.garda.ie/en/about-us/our-departments/human-resources-and-people-development/garda-hr- directorate/september-2019-garda-numbers-by-station.pdf. Population data is based on 2016 Census of Population.

Commuting In terms of commuting times, the 2016 census provided an insight to the areas of the country worst affected. Again, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow top the list with Fingal a close fourth. This highlights a failure of successive Governments to plan ahead so that transport demand can be properly consolidated and met in a planned way by better or new public transport.

Average Commuting Time by L.A., 2016

Meath Wicklow Kildare Fingal Laois Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown South Dublin Galway Co. Co Offaly Dublin City Westmeath Carlow Cavan Louth Leitrim Wexford Cork County Roscommon Longford Kilkenny Tipperary Monaghan Clare Limerick City & Co. Mayo Kerry Waterford City and Co. Cork City Sligo Donegal Galway City Co

20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00

Source: Central Statistics Office; https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cp6ci/p6cii/p6td/

Local Authority Expenditure The lack of funding in catch-up counties is similarly pronounced in terms of Local Authority funding. The following graph shows the (revenue) spend of each Local Authority per capita in 2018 with Meath, Fingal, Kildare, Galway County, and Wicklow the worst affected. For a fuller explanation of fundamental flaws in Local Authority funding, please see our publication, Fair Funding for Local Authorities . In particular, the funding system has failed to factor in population increases.

Expenditure (€) per Capita by Local Authority, 2018

Limerick Dublin City Cork City Leitrim Waterford Longford Mayo Monaghan Donegal Clare Sligo Tipperary Galway City Kerry Roscommon Cavan Kilkenny Offaly Carlow Westmeath Wexford Laois Louth Cork County DLR South Dublin Wicklow Galway Co. Kildare Fingal Meath 500 750 1000 1250 1500 1750 2000 2250 2500

Source: Local Authority Performance Indicator Report, 2018; National Oversight and Audit Commission 13

The following note from the National Oversight and Audit Commission is important in interpreting the above graph: “Three local authorities carry out large scale functions on a national or shared service basis on behalf of other local authorities and this expenditure would be reflected in the overall expenditure per capita figure…. … Limerick City and County operates the Housing Assistance Payment shared services centre. If this expenditure is omitted, Limerick’s figure would reduce from €2,659.16 to €868.54 for 2018. Laois operates MyPay, the shared payroll service and omitting this expenditure would reduce its revenue expenditure per capita figure in 2018 from €787.60 to €773.11 if these costs, net of contributions received from the other local authorities, were omitted. Dublin operates the Dublin Region Homeless Executive and Fire Services for the three other Dublin local authorities. Its figure would reduce from €1,562.81 to €1,190.29 if these costs, net of contributions received from the other local authorities, were omitted.”

Local Authority Staff The lower spending in Catch-up Councils has real consequences for services in these areas. The next graph shows that the Councils with the lowest staffing ratios relative to population are Meath, South Dublin and Kildare with Galway County, Fingal and Dun Laoghaire Rathdown next worst.

Council Staff per thousand, (2018 Q4)

Cork City Dublin City Leitrim Mayo Longford Kerry Waterford City and Co. Clare Monaghan Tipperary Sligo Limerick City & Co. Roscommon Donegal Galway City Co Kilkenny Westmeath Cork County Wexford Offaly Cavan Wicklow Laois Louth Carlow Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown Fingal Galway Co. Co Kildare South Dublin Meath 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Source: Local Authority Performance Indicator Report, 2018; National Oversight and Audit Commission

Local Authority Fire Services The following graph shows the average spend on fire services per capita by local authority, with Kildare and Meath again faring worst and Westmeath, Carlow and Wicklow well behind the rest.

Expenditure per Capita (€) on Fire Services, 2018

Cork City Dublin Limerick Waterford Leitrim Sligo Roscommon Kilkenny Cavan Tipperary Louth Longford Clare Donegal Mayo Laois Galway Kerry Offaly Monaghan Cork County Wexford Wicklow Carlow Westmeath Meath Kildare

25 35 45 55 65 75 85 95

Source: Local Authority Performance Indicator Report, 2018; National Oversight and Audit Commission

Public Libraries The following graph shows the level of expenditure by local authorities on public libraries in 2018 on a per capita basis. In this case, Galway (City and County), Meath and Wicklow show the lowest expenditure per head of population.

Expenditure (€) on Library Services per Capita, 2018

Cork City Fingal Longford Waterford Leitrim DLR Dublin City Monaghan South Dublin Clare Sligo Kildare Wexford Limerick Kilkenny Offaly Westmeath Roscommon Carlow Tipperary Laois Cork County Cavan Mayo Donegal Louth Kerry Wicklow Meath Galway

10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Source: Local Authority Performance Indicator Report, 2018; National Oversight and Audit Commission

Local Authority Rents The following graph shows that four out of the five Local Authorities with the lowest spending per capita are the four highest local authorities in terms of average rents charged to their tenants. (We accept that a number of factors will impact on the average rents charged.)

Average weekly L.A. rents (€), 2018

Meath Kildare Galway Co. Co Wicklow Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown Kilkenny Galway City Co Leitrim Fingal Wexford Laois Carlow Louth Roscommon Monaghan Westmeath Offaly Limerick City & Co. Cork County Dublin City Kerry Waterford City and Co. Longford Mayo Cork City Cavan Tipperary South Dublin Sligo Donegal Clare 30.00 35.00 40.00 45.00 50.00 55.00 60.00 65.00

Source: Appendix 4 in http://www.budget.gov.ie/Budgets/2020/Documents/Budget/Housing%20Assistance%20Payment%20(2014% 20-%202019).pdf

Local Authority Grants The next graph highlights how again Meath, Kildare and Wicklow find themselves close to the bottom in terms of Council grant allocations (per capita).

Government Grants (€) to Councils per capita 2017

Sligo Leitrim Waterford Mayo Monaghan Cavan Roscommon Four Dublin LAs Tipperary Longford Westmeath Clare Laois Carlow Kilkenny Kerry Louth Limerick Offaly Galway Co Donegal Cork Co Wicklow Galway City Wexford Kildare Cork City Meath 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

Source: Meath Co. Council submission to Baselines Review, June 2018

Satisfaction with Local Authorities An absence of resources in these areas leads to higher disatisfaction levels with Local Councils. It is little wonder that recent NOAC surveys of public satsifaction with Local Councils found respondents in Kildare and Meath to be among the least satisfied. In particular, Kildare performs very poorly on a number of public satisfaction metrics.

Source: http://noac.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Final-NOAC-Satisfaction-Survey-2019-PUBLICATION.pdf

Sports Funding Local Sports Partnerships are awarded funding each year by Sports Ireland to help promote participation in sports and activities in local communities. The following graph shows how this funding has been dispersed over the period 2016-2019. In this case, Dublin, Cork, Kildare and other centres of population experience much lower funding per capita than the national average. We accept that the level of rurality should play some part in determining needs and how these resources are distributed, but we cannot see how Leitrim receiving over 10 times more funding per capita than Dublin City Council can be justified - or indeed how Sligo with a very similar population to Roscommon can get almost 80% more funding under this stream.

Total Sports Partnership Funding per Capita (€), 2016-2019

Leitrim Longford Sligo Monaghan Carlow Laois Roscommon Waterford Westmeath Cavan Offaly Kilkenny Mayo Clare Tipperary Limerick Donegal Kerry Louth Meath Wicklow Wexford Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Galway Kildare South Dublin Cork Fingal Dublin City 0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00

Source: Sports Ireland

Adult Literacy Funding The following chart shows how adult literacy funding is dispersed throughout the country to various Education and Training Boards (with the two Dublin ETBs combined) and weighted by the adult population of each area. Cork, Dublin, Kerry, Kildare, Wicklow, Meath and Louth occupy the bottom half of regions in funding per adult population. Again, we accept that factors such as the number of non- nationals, existing literacy profile, and other issues should help determine funding in this area other than simply population. But it is difficult to see how such a huge difference in per adult funding between Cork at the bottom and Longford and Westmeath at the top can be justified. Equally, Tipperary gets close to double the funding of Kerry but with a very similar number of adults in both counties.

Adult Literacy Programme Funding (€) per Adult by Region/ETB (2018)

Longford and Westmeath Cavan and Monaghan Waterford and Wexford Tipperary Limerick and Clare Kilkenny and Carlow Mayo Sligo and Leitrim Galway and Roscommon Donegal Laois and Offaly Louth and Meath Kildare and Wicklow Kerry Dublin Cork

5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19

Source: Based on 2018 funding as reported in PQ reply: https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2019- 01-15/350/#pq_3 and Census of Population 2016.