Council fifth on integrity index

REPORT SHOWS WICKLOW’S SCORE IMPROVED IN 2019

WICKLOW County Council has been ranked in joint fifth place on the National Integrity Index 2019 for local authorities.

The report, published by Transparency International, ranked Ireland’s 31 local authorities based on three criteria: transparency, accountability and ethics. The index does not indicate which authority is the most or least transparent, accountable or ethical, but instead analyses which authority has the best systems and practics in place to ensure transparency, accountability and ethics.

Wicklow County Council scored 19 out of 30 points, the same score as Dublin City Council, Kilkenny County Council, Meath County Council and Wexford County Council in the 2019 index.

This represented an improvement on the score obtained by Wicklow County Council in 2018’s report when the authority was ranked in 19th place, scoring 12 out of a potential 30 points.

Fingal County Council and South Dublin County Council topped the list with a score of 22 points out of a possible 30.

Overall, the 2019 index found improvements in transparency across all local authorities, but suggested more could be done to curb the risk of corruption.

The National Integrity Index is not a measure of corruption in local authorities, but instead examines systems and practices for promoting integrity in local authorities.

The research draws from information available on individual council websites, freedom of information requests and feedback from local authority staff and councillors.

John Devitt, Chief Executive of TI Ireland said, ‘although we’ve seen a marked improvement in the number of councils reporting on their anti-corruption and ethics procedures, our recommendations remain largely the same as they did last year. The Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government needs to be far more proactive in preventing and addressing corruption in local authorities, while the Oireachtas needs to pass the long-delayed Public Sector Standards Bill 2015. Local authorities should also be publishing much more information online, including councillors’ annual ethics declarations, procurement information and key information on development plans and planning decisions.’

‘It should be remembered that this report and index are not measures of corruption in city and county councils. Rather, they are measures of how well-prepared local authorities are in stopping corruption. Likewise, the index does not tell us which authority is the most or least transparent, accountable or ethical, but which has the best systems and practices in place to ensure transparency, accountability and ethics,’ Mr Devitt added.