CORPORATE SERVICES

The Corporate Services Department is responsible for the provision and management of a very wide range of services which includes : Council and Corporate Policy Group meetings, Higher Education Grants, Register of Electors, Freedom of Information and Customer Services.   

HIGHER EDUCATION GRANTS

Carlow County Council awards grants for higher education to eligible candidates in accordance with the provisions of the Local Authorities (Higher Education Grants) Acts, 1968 to 1992 and the terms laid out in the current Higher Education Grants Scheme.

To be eligible for a grant under the scheme a candidate must fulfill the conditions as to residence, age, academic qualifications, nationality and means.   The value of the fully maintenance grant for 2006 amounted to €3,110.    The Student Service Charge is paid directly to the College/Institution in respect of candidates who qualify for a maintenance grant. 

Carlow County Council incurred expenditure in the sum of €1.4 million in 2006.  However, expenditure on Higher Education Grants is recoupable from the Department of Education and Science with the exception of the fixed contribution of €6,400 payable by this local authority under Section 3 of the Local Government (Higher Education Grants) Act, 1968.

REGISTER OF ELECTORS

A Register of electors is produced annually. The Register of Electors is a list of all persons over 18 years of age resident in the County who are entitled to vote in Elections to the Dail, European Parliament, Presidential, Local Elections and Referenda. The total number of electors registered to vote on the 2006/2007 Register of Electors is 39,902.   This figure is broken down per electoral area and type of elector as follows

• 39,140   Presidential Electorate
• 36,053   Dail Electors
• 39,607   European Electorate
• 28          Potential European Electorate

The following details related to Postal and Special Voters:

•           6          Garda
•           140     Defence Forces
•           7          Disabled Postal
•           183      Disabled Special

VETERINARY SERVICES

A full time Veterinary Inspector fulfils the service contract between the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) and Carlow County Council.   The Veterinary Inspector carries out various functions mainly relating to food safety and public health. The Veterinary Inspectors office is located in the Civic Office Tullow.

CONTROL OF DOGS

Under the control of Dogs Act ,1986 and 1992 all dogs and Guard Dog Kennels must be licensed, except those used wholly for official duties by the Gardai, Defence Forces or the Custom and Excise Service.  Section 2 of the Act makes it an offence for a person to keep a dog unless he/she holds a licence for that dog or a general licence covering any number of dogs at a specified premises. Carlow County Council and Kilkenny County Council operate a joint Dog Warden Service with two dog wardens A state of the art dog pound at Paulstown which was funded by Carlow County Council and Kilkenny County Council was opened  in 2006.

No of Licences issued:                   2308
No of Dogs impounded:                 245
No of fines issued:                           121    

COURTHOUSES

Muinebheag and Tullow Courthouses continue to be maintained by Carlow County Council.  Expenditure on courthouse operation and maintenance is recoupable from the Courts Service.

CORONERS AND INQUESTS

A part-time Coroner is employed by Carlow County Council to carry out inquests and port-mortem certifications. In 2006 there were 76 deaths reported with 12 post mortems and 27 inquests carried out by the coroner.

  
WORKPLACE PARTNERSHIP

During 2006 the process of modernisation and managing change through Partnership has continued with the embedding of the process through local initiatives and the implementation of national policies.    Under the "Sustaining Progress " and "Towards 2016 Agreements" increases under Benchmarking have to be verified against agreed commitments and flexibility measures. The Performance Verification Group set up under this process audited Carlow Local Authorities on the 5th April 2006 and were satisfied that the Local Authorities are honoring their commitments under the process. Central to their deliberations was the active role of Partnership in delivering these changes. The following are some of the initiatives that were introduced/delivered in 2006.

• Provision of Health screening for staff.
• Ecumenical Service
• Customer Service Training for front line staff
• Continued promotion of Return to learning initiative.
• Stress in the workplace training for Fire Service Staff
• All staff issued with pedometers as part of heath promotion in the workplace.
• Continued support for PMDS
• Publication of staff magazine
• Retired staff function.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT SYSTEMS

 The principle of PMDS is to develop greater inclusion in the process of business planning and develop personal development plans in respect of all staff. It is the means of relating the Corporate Plan to Business Plans and thereby assists in the delivery of the Councils services.

The process will move Carlow local authorities to an open learning style organisation with enhanced service provision for all our stakeholders. Two staff members were trained to introduce the process across the organisation.  The system was rolled out to all sections in 2006.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

The Freedom of Information (FOI) acts, 1997-2003 gives 3 legal rights to those seeking access to information held by public bodies covered by the Act:

• The right of access to official records created after 21st April, 1998 which are held by Government Departments or other public bodies subject to the Act.

 

• The right to have personal details on official records corrected or updated when such information is incomplete, incorrect or misleading and

• The right to be given reasons for decisions taken by public bodies that affect the requester.

 

A request for information under the Freedom of Information Act must be made, in writing; accompanied by the appropriate fee (i.e. €15 or €10 in case of a person covered by a medical card) and should indicate that the information is being sought under the Freedom of Information Act.   The number of requests received under the Freedom of Information Act during 2006 was as follows:-

 

OMBUDSMAN

The office of the Ombudsman was set up to examine complaints from members of the public who feel that they have been unfairly treated in their dealings with bodies such as Government Departments, Local Authorities and Health Boards.

• Complaints brought forward from 2005 - 6
• Complaints received -  6
• Complaints responded to in full -  8
• Subject of Complaints   Housing, Planning, water/sewerage

 

TWINNING

Carlow County twinned with Davenport, IOWA USA at a special meeting of Carlow County Council held on the 26th September 2006.  Carlow is also twinned with Banbridge Co Down and over the past number of years continued to forge strong links with this community.

 

FREEDOM OF CARLOW

On the 23rd June, 2006 at a ceremony in St. Patrick’s College, Carlow, the Freedom of Carlow was bestowed, for the first time ever, on Fr. Caoimhin O’Neill, St. Patrick’s College, Carlow and Professor Jimmy Burke, Teagasc, Carlow.    The Members of Carlow County Council resolved to confer civic honours on Fr. Caoimhin O’Neill in recognition of his exceptional contribution to the development of an arts centre in Carlow; to education and to artistic and cultural life in Carlow and to Professor Jimmy Burke in recognition of his exceptional contribution to the development of a Forest Park at Oakpark; for his contribution to agriculture and economic development in the county.    

 

DISABILITY

 The Disability  Act 2005 places a range of obligations on Local Authorities

• To promote universal  access to public places, buildings and services owned and operated by local authorities
• To promote access as far as practicable, to heritage buildings and sites.
• To promote access to information on local authority services in accessible formats (WEBSITES)
• To promote mobility access of persons with disabilities to local  facilities and amenities.(Playgrounds, Parks and Polling Stations)

The Sectoral Plan for Local Authorities was approved by the Oireachtas on 18th October 2006.  The Sectoral Plan aims to promote and encourage equal opportunities for people with disabilities to take part in the economic, social and cultural life of the community and outlines the steps to be taken in relation to the improved provision of services to persons with disabilities by local authorities.

Each Local authority must carry out accessibility audits with six months of the approval of the Sectoral Plan by the Oireachtas of all public buildings, public parks, amenities and open spaces roads and streets, pavements and pedestrian crossings, heritage sites and public libraries within its control.   An Implementation Plan must be prepared within three months of completing the accessibility Audits.

The following staff  were appointed Access Officers in accordance with the Disability Act 2005:

The Built Environment:                   Owen O Ceilleachair, A/Chief Officer,
Information Communications Technology:    John Forde, Head of Information Technology
Customer Services:     Michael Brennan, Senior Executive Officer, Corporate Services/Human Resources

Carlow Local Authorities received funding of €227,236  under the National Disability Strategy Funding programme and the following are some of the works that were carried out

• Disability Awareness Training
• Provision of accessible shelving at Bagenalstown Library for customers with disabilities
• Purchase of Information Kiosk  for Customer Service  area at County Buildings
• Provision of ramps and pedestrian crossings in key locations identified by Carlow Access Movement –Link Road at Carlow IT ( Green Road) and Rathnapish –Delta House.
• Provision of Pedestrian Crossing at County Buildings.
• Provision of Play Equipment ---Dereen Heights Play area.
• Tactile Paving and other works Tullow.

HUMAN RESOURCES

Carlow Local Authorities is one of the largest employers in County Carlow, with an authorised staffing level of 305.  The staff, comprising many different grades of employees are engaged in the delivery of a wide range of services to the public.   The Human Resources Department has specific responsibility for:

• Manpower Planning, Recruitment & Selection
• Training, Learning and Development
• Performance Management
• Industrial Relations
• Staff Wellbeing
• Equality/Diversity
• Work Life Balance  
• Superannuation.

  
The activities of the Human Resources Department play an important role in delivering on the objectives of Carlow Local Authorities.    The Council’s policy is to attract and retain competent staff with the qualifications and experience necessary to provide an efficient and effective service to the people of Carlow.

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

The Human Resources Department work with Unions and Staff Representatives to achieve good working relationships and is committed to the promotion of a good industrial relations environment.   No days were lost due to industrial disputes in 2006

WORK LIFE BALANCE

The following Work Life Balance Schemes are in operation

• Worksharing

• Parental Leave

• Term Time

• Career Breaks

EQUALITY/DIVERSITY

Carlow Local Authorities fully subscribe to the principles of equality as set out in the Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2004.During the year training was provided to staff in equality and diversity, which is on going and sign language.

TRAINING LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT

Training, Learning and Development is a core function of the Human Resource Department  and during 2006 a training learning and development strategy was prepared for Carlow Local Authorities. Personal development profiles of staff in the Performance Management System form a key element of the training plans for the organisation.

PERFORMANCE VERIFICATION PROCESS

The Council submitted a number of action plans detailing progress under Sustaining Progress during the year to the Performance Verification Group in respect of benchmarking. The Performance Verification Group site visit took place on the 5th April 2006.

 

PERSONNEL STATISTICS 2006

The core complement of permanent at December, 2006, is as follows:

CONFERENCE ATTENDED BY COUNCILLORS 1ST JANUARY, 2006 TO 31ST DECEMBER, 2006