Councils are the backbone of the vast majority of what happens, or in some cases does not happen, locally. Their work is vitally important for our quality of life from cleaning the roads to running the libraries.

Some form of council has existed since medieval times. Known as Local Grand Juries, these were administrative bodies comprising up to 24 exclusively Protestant “leading men” who were usually large landowners. They were charged with building and maintaining jails, roads, courthouses, hospitals, asylums and, latterly, housing. In 1899, they were replaced by elected county councils.

Today, Ireland’s 31 councils employ 32,500 full-time equivalent staff to carry out their functions in planning, roads, water, waste, fire, youth, economic development and other services. The National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) keeps track of what they do.

Involved in housing since the 1800s, councils today have statutory responsibility for the provision of local authority housing. Four councils directly built fewer than 10 new dwellings last year, with many buying new housing from the market – such purchases totalling 44 per cent of their overall output in 2025 (1,257 dwellings). This is expensive and deals are opaque.

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From 2017 to 2025, about €43 billion was allocated to housing in annual budgets. Even accounting for maintenance of existing stock, that is enough to build........

© The Irish Times