Register of Electors

A Register of Electors is produced annually. The Register 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 Assembly, Presidential, Local Elections and Referenda.

Local Electoral Area	No of Electors
Piltown	14,520
Kilkenny City	14,074
Ballyragget	12,197
Thomastown	12,108
Callan	8,504
Kilkenny	4,798

 

Customer Service Initiatives

A number of initiatives were introduced during the year with the intention of improving customer care and the delivery of quality services to the public. These include

• New Planning Customer Service Desk which is accessible for people with disabilities.
• Validation of Planning Applications at the Public Counter.
• Edirect rolled out to all Departments and Area Offices.
• Lunch Time Opening extended to all Departments.
• On line payments system for parking /Traffic fines,fire charges Housing loans.
• Introduction of Billpay as customer payment method.
• Taking in Charge of Housing Estates Protocol agreed in partnership with CIF.
• Modern Area Offices with decentralised services.
• Sign language and Irish classes provided to staff to enhance customer care.
• Improved disability access.
• Wireless links to Area Offices.

 

Barcelona Declaration:

A working Group has been established consisting of internal and external Stakeholders in respect of the implementation of the Barcelona Declaration and Sectoral Pan as provided for in the Disability Act 2005 Funding has been received under the National Disability Strategy to commence the provision of services and activity contained in the outline Sectoral Plan.

 

Section 66 Grants

Kilkenny County Council grant aided 69 community groups in 2005 under this scheme. The total grants allocated was €38,755.This scheme grant aids community groups who promote the social, economic, environmental, recreational and cultural development of their areas.

 

Ombudsman Complaints

Complaints received	5
Complaints responded to	5
Subject of Complaints	Planning and Housing

 

Freedom of Information

Applications b/f  2004	2
No of applications requests received 2005	17
No of requests granted	16
No of requests part granted	1
No of requests refused	1
No of requests withdrawn	0
Live cases at 31/12/05	1

 

Appeals

No of internal Reviews received		1
No of Appeals to Info Comm		0
Sources of Requests	Business Interests	10
	Staff	1
	Others	6

 

Number of Council Meetings

Number of Council Meetings, Committee Meetings Held from 1st January, 2005 to 31st December, 2005.

No. of Ordinary Monthly Meetings.	11	SPC1 - Economic Development & Planning Policy	4
Annual Meeting.	1	SPC2 - Infrastructure, Transportation, Water Services & Other	4
Special Meetings of the Council.	6	SPC3 - Environmental Policy including Sanitary Services, Fire Services, Emergency Planning	4
Estimates.	2	SPC4 - Housing Policy, Social	5
Thomastown Electoral Area.	6	SPC5 - Arts, Culture, Heritage, Tourism, Education	6
Thomastown Expanded Area	3	Woodstock	1
Kilkenny Electoral Area.	6	Woodstock Integrated Area Plan	1
Kilkenny Expanded Area	1	County Development Board	5
Callan Electoral Area.	4	Corporate Policy Group	8
Callan Expanded Area	2	Water Safety	5
Piltown Electoral Area.	6	Joint Traffic Committee	0
Piltown Expanded Area	3	Goul Joint Drainage	2
Ballyragget Electoral Area.	4	Kilkenny Community Action Network (KCAN)	11
Ballyragget Expanded Area	2	County Enterprise Board	8
Rural Water Monitoring.	6	Intergrated Area Plan	1
Traveller Accommodation	3	Barrow Nore Suir	9

 

 

Workplace Partnership in Kilkenny County and City Councils

During 2005 the process of 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" Agreement, increases under Benchmarking have to be verified against agreed commitments and flexibility measures. The Performance Verification Group set up under this process visited Kilkenny in September 2005 and were satisfied that Kilkenny Local Authorities are honouring their commitments under this process. Central to their deliberations was the active role of Partnership in delivering these changes.

The first meetings within the Partnership Forum between full time Union Officials and the full Management Team took place in 2005. These meetings which were initiated as part of the "Handling Significant Change Through Partnership Process" have proved very useful and are to continue in 2006.

Partnership working groups set up as part of an going staff consultation process continued to meet in 2005 to review progress made in respect of priority issues identified by these four groups. Arising out of the recommendations of the four groups the following positive outcomes have taken place:-

• Cross functional team meetings taking place at area level to co-ordinate services for the public.
• Development of communications strategy through ongoing contributions to the local authority page in the Kilkenny People.
• Development and resourcing of the Customer Service desk.
• Ongoing development of the new Machinery Yard complex.
• Agreement of flexible working arrangements to be incorporated within lunchtime opening.
• Review of working arrangements at area level with a view to incorporating a system of planned maintenance for sanitary services work.
• Progressing family friendly issues for staff.
• Examination of procurement policy to ensure greater value for money and greater input from the end user.

 

Other Working Groups currently in operation include a Sanitary Services working group looking at water conservation, a health in the workplace group which initiated a health promotion day in October, 2005 and a Creche Committee set up to examine the feasibility of incorporating child care facilities within any proposed development in County Hall.

The Kilkenny Borough Council working group continues to address issues raised through Partnership for Kilkenny Borough Council. Arising from staff consultations in 2003, a document was completed raising issues that affect staff and the general customers of Kilkenny Borough Council. Most of these issues have now been addressed. These include:-

• Clarity regarding chain of command.
• Better scheduling of work.
• Increased and balanced representation on the main local authority committee.
• Better communications between the committee and staff in general.
• Better maintenance of equipment.
• Improvement of conditions in the Borough Yard.
• Examination of the policy regarding hire versus purchasing of equipment.
• A review of the housing maintenance function was carried out by a housing working group. The findings of this report were endorsed by both the main Borough Partnership Committee and management in December, 2005. This report is to info rm changes in how Kilkenny Borough Council carries out its housing maintenance programme for 2006 and beyond.

 

There were a number of changes in personnel on Kilkenny Local Authorities Partnership Committee in 2005. Of particular note was the appointment of a new Union Joint Chair, Mr. Seamus Hogan, IMPACT Representative who took over from Dave Gallagher who has left the organisation on a career break. Seamus together with Philip O'Neill, Director of Service, Management Joint Chair are entrusted along with Adrian Waldron , Workplace Partnership Facilitator in focusing the committee and driving the change process as necessary. The joint chairs of the Kilkenny Borough Council committee are Kieran Fitzgerald , Borough Engineer, Management Joint Chair and Walter Comerford, SIPTU, Union Joint Chair.

Along with the ongoing commitments of the working groups there were a number of projects advanced in 2005. These included:-

• Workplace health testing for staff and elected members.
• Publication of staff magazine.
• Completion of facilitation training for staff liaising with community groups.
• Return to learning project.
• Health promotion in the work place day.