Repairing roads the most important council service, survey finds

Fixing and maintaining roads is the most important service city and county councils provide, according to a survey conducted by the State local authority watchdog.

And providing affordable housing was the second most important local authority service. The findings emerged from a survey of 1,030 people living in the 10 largest local authority areas.

Some 39 per cent of people said road maintenance was the most important issue for them. And 27 per cent said affordable housing was.

Just one-quarter of respondents said they were satisfied with how their local authority was doing when it came to providing social or affordable housing.

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The poll was carried out by Ipsos/MRBI in March, for the National Oversight and Audit Commission, the State body responsible for overseeing local authorities performance.

People living in rural areas were far less satisfied with the quality of road maintenance their local council provided, compared to those living in urban areas. Some 47 per cent of people living in Dublin City Council said they were satisfied with the quality of road repairs, compared to 25 per cent of respondents living in Tipperary.

Some 37 per cent of people said they thought their local authority was well run, and 27 per cent said it provided good value for money, according to the survey. Some 40 per cent of people felt their local authority was difficult to deal with and too bureaucratic.

Limerick City and County Council had the highest satisfaction rating (69 per cent), followed by South Dublin County Council with 61 per cent. Tipperary County Council had the worst satisfaction rating, of 40 per cent.

Overall 65 per cent of people said they believed their local authority was working to make their area greener and cleaner.

Some 92 per cent of people said their local area was a good place to live, and 84 per cent said they had a strong sense of belonging to where they lived.

Survey results: Satisfaction rating

• Limerick – 69%
• South Dublin – 61%
• Fingal – 58%
• Galway County – 57%
• Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown – 57%
• Dublin City – 53%
• Cork County – 46%
• Meath – 44%
• Kildare – 43%
• Tipperary – 40%