Participatory Budgeting (IE0040)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: Ireland National Action Plan 2016-2018
Action Plan Cycle: 2016
Status: Inactive
Institutions
Lead Institution: Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government
Support Institution(s): National PPN Advisory Group, Local Authorities, The Association of Irish Local Government (AILG) and the County and City Managers’ Association
Policy Areas
Fiscal Openness, Public Participation in Budget/Fiscal Policy, SubnationalIRM Review
IRM Report: Ireland End-of-Term Report 2016-2018, Ireland Mid-Term Report 2016-2018
Starred: No
Early Results: Did Not Change
Design i
Verifiable: No
Relevant to OGP Values: Civic Participation
Implementation i
Description
To enable further citizen engagement in local authority budgeting Objective: Undertake a feasibility study on possible means of enabling further citizen engagement in local authority budgetary processes. Status quo: The budgetary process established under the Local Government Reform Act 2014, will be considered in the context of a further programme of local government reform and development to be undertaken pursuant to the Programme for a Partnership Government for the purpose of a report for Government and the Oireachtas by mid-2017 on potential measures to boost local government leadership and accountability, and to ensure that local government funding, structures and responsibilities strengthen local democracy. Having regard to these active considerations it is considered that the opportunity for the timely commencement of this action and the means by which further citizen engagement might be enhanced will be informed by this process. Ambition: The results of the feasibility study will inform and guide the next steps on how further citizen engagement in local authority budgetary processes can be facilitated. Lead implementing organisation: Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government Timeline: January 2017 to December 2017.
Commitment 7: Support Public Participation Networks OGP values Civic participation, Public accountability New or ongoing commitment New Lead implementation organisations Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government Other actors involved - government National PPN Advisory Group, Local Authorities, The Association of Irish Local Government (AILG) and the County and City Managers’ Association Verifiable and measurable milestones to fulfil the commitment New or ongoing Start date End date Association of Irish Local Government (AILG) & County and City Managers’ Association to undertake feasibility study, in consultation with key stakeholders, on enabling further citizen engagement in local authority budgetary processes. New January 2017 December 2017.
IRM Midterm Status Summary
7. Participatory Budgeting
Commitment Text:
Objective: Undertake a feasibility study on possible means of enabling further citizen engagement in local authority budgetary processes.
Status quo: The budgetary process established under the Local Government Reform Act 2014, will be considered in the context of a further programme of local government reform and development to be undertaken pursuant to the Programme for a Partnership Government for the purpose of a report for Government and the Oireachtas by mid-2017 on potential measures to boost local government leadership and accountability, and to ensure that local government funding, structures and responsibilities strengthen local democracy. Having regard to these active considerations it is considered that the opportunity for the timely commencement of this action and the means by which further citizen engagement might be enhanced will be informed by this process.
Ambition: The results of the feasibility study will inform and guide the next steps on how further citizen engagement in local authority budgetary processes can be facilitated.
Milestone:
7.1. Association of Irish Local Government (AILG) & County and City Managers’ Association to undertake feasibility study, in consultation with key stakeholders, on enabling further citizen engagement in local authority budgetary processes.
Responsible institution: Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government
Supporting institutions: National PPN Advisory Group, Local Authorities, The Association of Irish Local Government (AILG) and the County and City Managers’ Association
Start date: January 2017
End date: December 2017
Context and Objectives
While Ireland is a unitary state where the Treasury is based at the central level of government, public funds spent at the local level are important because they ‘fund essential local services such as, public parks; libraries; open spaces and leisure amenities; planning and development; fire and emergency services; maintenance and cleaning of streets and street lighting.’[Note: See the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, Local Government Finance here: http://www.housing.gov.ie/local-government/administration/finance/local-government-finance. ] The Local Government Reform Act of 2014 provided for a major restructuring of the institutional structures of local government.[Note: For full details, see: http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2014/si/215/made/en/pdf. ] Extending this reform, this commitment aims to bring citizens into the local authority budgetary processes by performing a feasibility study with stakeholders to examine how to enable further engagement by citizens in the budgetary process.
The feasibility study envisaged in this commitment would involve consultations with stakeholders, thus making the commitment relevant to the OGP value of civic participation. The specificity of the commitment is low; it has a clear objective to perform a feasibility study, but it does not fully outline how stakeholders will be consulted and what type and volume of evidence will be deemed sufficient to make any firm conclusions. While participatory budgeting is an important component for civic participation, a feasibility study for participatory budgeting will not, in itself, lead to greater participation. Therefore, the potential impact is marked as minor.
Completion
Implementation of this commitment has not started and is behind schedule. The government has indicated this lack of implementation in its progress report on the commitment, although it also stated that draft terms of reference have been prepared in the following broad thematic areas: understanding participatory budgeting; understanding the local authority budget process; and feasibility of participatory budgeting in an Irish local government context. Social Justice Ireland expressed concern that little progress has been made on this commitment, calling for it to be implemented as soon as possible.[Note: See: https://consult.ogpireland.ie/ga/submission/CVQ-258/observation/participatory-budgeting-must-be-expedited-promote-real-public. ] Given that the action plan has an end date of December 2017 to complete the feasibility study, the commitment is clearly behind schedule. Nor is the nature of consultations with key stakeholders fully clear from the government report—a key indicator given the wording of the milestone.
Next Steps
This commitment was carried forward from Ireland’s first action but has yet to begin. However, there is evidence of public interest in the concept of participatory budgeting, as seen in a recent open discussion in October 2017 by the Social Democrats, which examined how participatory budgeting could work.[Note: See: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/democratising-dublin-tickets-39036738937#. ] The IRM researcher recommends that if the feasibility study is not completed, the study should be carried forward into the next plan. If it is expected to be completed by the end of second year, then a modified commitment to advance legislation to guarantee citizen participation in the budgetary process is recommended for the next action plan.
IRM End of Term Status Summary
For commitment details, see https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/Ireland_End-Term_...
Commitments
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Promote Transparent Climate Policy Development
IE0031, 2016, Environment and Climate
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Support Public Participation Networks
IE0032, 2016, Capacity Building
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Improve Access to Justice: Reducing Costs
IE0033, 2016, Access to Justice
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Improve Access to Justice: Framework to Assist Vulnerable Persons
IE0034, 2016, Access to Justice
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Improve Access to Justice: Oversight of Legal Practitioners
IE0035, 2016, Access to Justice
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Enhance Citizen Engagement in Policy Making: General
IE0036, 2016, Capacity Building
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Enhance Citizen Engagement in Policy Making: Youth
IE0037, 2016, Marginalized Communities
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Enhance Customer Engagement
IE0038, 2016, Access to Information
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Improve Access to Government Services Through Technology
IE0039, 2016, Capacity Building
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Participatory Budgeting
IE0040, 2016, Fiscal Openness
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Improve Transparency of Government Service Providers
IE0041, 2016, Access to Information
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Enhance Fiscal Transparency
IE0042, 2016, Fiscal Openness
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Introduce Modern Document Management Procedures
IE0043, 2016, Access to Information
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Develop an Open Data Strategy 2017-2020
IE0044, 2016, Access to Information
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Invest in Data Infrastructure That Will Result in Better Open Data
IE0045, 2016, Access to Information
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Develop a Code of Practice for the Governance of Charities
IE0046, 2016,
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Public Sector Standards Bill
IE0047, 2016, Anti-Corruption
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Establish a Register of Beneficial Ownership
IE0048, 2016, Anti-Corruption
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Establishment of Best Practice Standards for Open Data
IE0001, 2014, Access to Information
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Establishment of Ireland’S Open Data Platform
IE0002, 2014, Access to Information
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Undertake an Audit of Key Datasets for Publication
IE0003, 2014, Access to Information
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Establish a Roadmap for the Open Data and an Evaluation Framework to Provide Assessment of the Ongoing Open Data
IE0004, 2014, Access to Information
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Establishment of an Open Data Ireland Governance Board (ODIGB) and Steering and Implementation Group (SIG) for Open Data Ireland
IE0005, 2014, Access to Information
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Signing up to the G8 Open Data Charter
IE0006, 2014, Access to Information
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Implementing Open Data
IE0007, 2014, Access to Information
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Improve Computer Literacy Through Implementation of Proposed New Digital Strategy for Schools
IE0008, 2014, Capacity Building
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Review National and International Practice to Develop Revised Principles / Code for Public Engagement/Consultation with Citizens, Civil Society and Others by Public Bodies.
IE0009, 2014, Public Participation
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Hold Referenda Arising from the Recommendations of the Constitutional Convention
IE0010, 2014, Gender
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Ethics Reform
IE0011, 2014, Anti-Corruption
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Strengthening Freedom of Information - Implement the Code of Practice for Freedom of Information (FOI).
IE0012, 2014, Access to Information
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Reform of FOI
IE0013, 2014, Access to Information
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Regulation of Lobbying
IE0014, 2014, Legislation & Regulation
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Encourage, Protect and Raise Awareness of Whistleblower Duties and Protections
IE0015, 2014, Anti-Corruption
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Measures to Increase Citizen Participation in Decision Making on Policy and Legislative Proposals. Systemic Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of Draft Bills
IE0016, 2014, Legislation & Regulation
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Develop and Deliver Access to Environmental Information (AIE) Training Module for Public Officials
IE0017, 2014, Access to Information
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Increase Citizen Participation at Local Level. Pilot Approach to Implementation of Public Participation Networks
IE0018, 2014, Open Regulations
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Provide Legal Base for Public Participation Framework in Local Government
IE0019, 2014, Capacity Building
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Undertake a Feasibility Study on Possible Means of Enabling Further Citizen Engagement in Local Authority Budgetary Processes
IE0020, 2014, Fiscal Openness
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Support Children and Young People as Citizens. Develop, Finalise and Publish the First Government Strategy on Children and Young People's Participation in Decision-Making.
IE0021, 2014, Capacity Building
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Maximise Participation and Understanding of Young People in Civic Life
IE0022, 2014, Capacity Building
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Development of an ICT Strategy
IE0023, 2014,
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Data Sharing and Governance Bill
IE0024, 2014, E-Government
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Public Services Card
IE0025, 2014, E-Government
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Single Customer View
IE0026, 2014, E-Government
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Local Government Portal
IE0027, 2014, E-Government
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New Local Enterprise Offices
IE0028, 2014, Subnational
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Review and Enhancement of Complaints Procedures and Using Feedback to Improve Services Across the Public Service; a Review of Citizen Complaints Procedures Will Be Undertaken.
IE0029, 2014, Public Participation
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Enhance Customer Engagement
IE0030, 2014, Public Participation