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Topline Results July, 2013

Local Government and a Directly Elected Mayor

An initiative of the 4 Dublin Local Authorities run by Dublin City Council through its survey partner for

“Shaping Dublin” Delve Research

Shaping Dublin - Response

• The theme of this survey was family living and local government in Dublin

• The research was carried out in May and June 2013.

• The panel numbers almost 4,000 persons• Over 1200 completed questionnaires were

received representing a response rate from the citizen panel of approximately 30 per cent.

• This is an extremely robust sample and allows for detailed comparative analysis by various demographics.

Shaping Dublin - Response

• Topline results of opinion presented in this report are reweighted to more accurately reflect the actual age distribution of the population.

18-30

31-45

46-65

Over 65

29%

31%

27%

13%

10%

46%

35%

9%

Age DistributionSample vs Census 2011

% in census % in sample

Shaping Dublin - Demographics

• 54% of respondents were female

• The age group with the largest representation among respondents was the 31-45 year old group (39%).

18-3010%

31-4546%

46-6535%

Over 659%

Age Group

Shaping Dublin- other variables

• 26% of respondents had a third level degree.

• 68% live in the Dublin city region

• 76% work in the Dublin city region

• 94% of respondents have lived in Dublin for over 5 years

• 56% of Dublin resident respondents were from the Dublin City Council local authority area. 16% were from Fingal and South Dublin, respectively. 9% were from DLR.

Participatory Governance &

A Directly Elected Mayor

How to get involved

• When asked for the top three ways to get involved in decisions that affect their local area, respondents had various perceptions

• 60% would choose online engagement tools such as social media

• Nearly 50% believed that greater access to data and information would enhance their involvement

• Leaflets still hold sway at almost 35% and• Traditional public meetings were identified as a good

means by almost 30%• By comparison just over 25% identified plebiscites and

18% petition rights

Representing citizen opinion

• When asked how well their opinion was represented in terms of how they wanted to see Dublin improve, responses were varied.

• 46% stated that their opinion was poorly represented

• 11% of respondents felt that their opinion was well represented.

• 42% were neutral

Avg out of 5 1 2 3 4 5

2.50 15 31 42 11 0

How well do you feel your opinion is represented in terms

of how you want to see Dublin, as the capital city,

improve?

% of Poorly -> Well

46% (15+36) thought their opinion was

poorly or very poorly (36%) represented

Devolution of powers to the local level

• When asked for their level of agreement with the statement: “In general decisions that affect my local community should be influenced more by local than national government” an overwhelming 80% agreed with the statement with 34% of those strongly agreeing.

Local Power• In general decisions that affect my local community should be

influenced more by local than national government” Agreement with this statement was higher among those who had lived in Dublin for longer.

1 year or less

1 to 5 years

More than 5 years

17%

66%

81%

Decisions that affect my local community should be influenced more by local government than national

governmentby length of time living in Dublin

agree or strongly agree

A Directly Elected Mayor• The survey firstly examined feelings with regard to a

Directly Elected Mayor for Dublin• The citizen panel were asked if they agreed that:

– a) a directly elected mayor would attract investment into the city region - over 41% agreed, 38% were neutral with just over a fifth disagreed.

Avg out of 5 1 2 3 4 5

3.27 5 16 38 30 11

% of Disagree -> Agree

A directly elected mayor of Dublin would be able to attract

investment into the Dublin region

A Directly Elected Mayor

– b) a DEM would improve Dublin’s global identity –55% agreed, 20% disagreed

Avg out of 5 1 2 3 4 5

3.48 5 14 27 38 17

A directly elected mayor of Dublin would give the city an

improved global identity

% of Disagree -> Agree

A Directly Elected Mayor

– c) a DEM would improve how Dublin is managed and run – 52% agreed with a lot of neutral opinion at 32% and only 16% disagreeing

Avg out of 5 1 2 3 4 5

3.46 6 10 32 37 15

% of Disagree -> Agree

A directly elected mayor would improve how Dublin is

managed and run

A Directly Elected Mayor

d) a DEM would benefit the rest of Ireland – only 23% agreed with over a third disagreeing and 43% neutral

Avg out of 5 1 2 3 4 5

2.86 10 24 43 16 7

The rest of Ireland would benefit from Dublin having a

directly elected mayor

% of Disagree -> Agree

A Directly Elected Mayor

• Those seeking employment….agreed with potential of DEM to attract investment, improve identity of city internationally and manage the city (see next slide)

• Generally there was agreement on the positive impacts of a DEM with a notable amount of open minds (neutrals)

A directly elected mayor of Dublin would be ableto attract investment into the Dublin region

A directly elected mayor of Dublin would give thecity an improved global identity

A directly elected mayor would improve howDublin is managed and run

The rest of Ireland would benefit from Dublinhaving a directly elected mayor

56%

65%

70%

42%

65%

66%

37%

Directly elected mayor for Dublinby employment, % agreeing or strongly agreeing

Working full-time Working part-time

Currently seeking employment Student or pupil

Looking after home / family Retired from employment

Unable to work due to permanent illness or disability

A DEM – Yes or No• The panel were then asked if Dublin should have a DEM –

61% said Yes• There are considerable and sometimes significant

differences by age, gender, education level, employment status and local authority of residence

Yes61%

No14%

Not sure25%

Do you think Dublin should have a directly elected mayor?

DEM by County

Dublin City Council

Fingal County Council

South Dublin Co Council

DLR County Council

Don't know / not sure

65%

60%

59%

52%

48%

Should Dublin have a directly elected mayor?by local authority

% yes

DEM- Yes or No

• Males more in favour

Male

Female

68%

53%

Should Dublin have a directly elected mayor?by gender

% Yes

DEM – Yes or No

• Over 65’s significantly in favour with 72% compared to 55% in the 46-64 year old range

• DCC residents were 65% in favour versus 52% in DLR

• Those with 4th level education were 70% in favour though from third level postgraduate to secondary level there was no discernible pattern

• Retirees favoured a DEM at 69% agreement compared to 50% agreement that Dublin should have a DEM amongst those looking after a home

If not, why not?

• While 24% were neutral on whether there should be a DEM or not, of those who opposed a DEM some reasons given for this stance were – Doubts relating to the role and extensiveness of power

– Cost of the Office/Waste of Money

– Another layer of bureaucracy adding to systemic problems

Reason for objection to directly elected mayor % mentions No. mentions

Too costly / waste of money 40% 82

No real power / impact 20% 41

Would make role too political / open to cronyism 12% 25

Other 11% 22

Extra layer of bureaucracy 10% 21

Current system is fine 7% 14

Issues• There is a clear desire for a DEM amongst this

representative citizen panel with most respondents believing that a DEM would help improve global identity (build the international profile of the city) and attract investment

• Cities as drivers of growth, attracting talent, investment, trade, innovation, culture and creativity

• Dublin as a city of global scale

• Considering negative responses there is a need to determine the value and cost benefit of the office.

Issues

• The difference between power (ability to influence change) and powers (budgetary influence)??

• Belief that there is a context for a DEM in Dublin – adaptation of the mission and method of city governance to this context

Geographical scope (I)

• An issue in the mayoral debate is the geographical scope of mayoral powers.

• More recently, the concept of functional area have gained greater levels of acceptance amongst policy makers – such as the travel catchment area of Dublin which extends into the Mid East region and beyond

• YDYV asked citizens what area they thought a DEM should have control over. To avoid confusion three broad level options were put forth for consideration

Geographical scope (II)

• Almost 46% identified Dublin County (the four local authorities) as the preferred choice for a DEM

• 36% choose the smaller administrative area of Dublin City as their preferred choice of area

• Only 8% indicated control for a DEM over a wider Greater Dublin Area as their preferred option.

• 10% wanted none of those options

Geographical scope

A wider functional area which includes parts of Louth, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow

8%

County Dublin46%

Dublin City Council area

36%

None of the above10%

Which of the following best reflects the area you think a directly elected mayor for Dublin

should govern?

Sectoral Power for a DEM

• YDYV asked the panel the sectoral areas that a DEM should have power or some power over

• Respondents could select more than one option

• Community services, transport, planning, waste and environment and economic development and to a lesser extent “policing and emergency services” were all popular areas

• Health social welfare and education were less favoured

Community services

Transport

Waste and environment

Planning

Economic development

Housing

Water services

Policing and emergency services

International relations

Education

Social welfare and services

Health

Other

74%

69%

68%

64%

54%

53%

52%

47%

32%

25%

22%

19%

12%

Areas that a directly elected mayor of Dublin should have power or some power over

% selecting

Issues• Green paper on local government –

http://www.environ.ie/en/GreenPaper/html/greenp_chapthree.html

• Examined extent of mayoral powers

• Division between executive and mayor

• Putting people first…

• Citizens favour:

– Transport and Economic Development – regional elements to these

– Planning (regional as part of broader planning hierarchy), Waste, Water – traditional functions

– Community services – very local, desire for clear vision to

drive local needs?

Issues

• Economic development functions: can relate back to:– International profile– Investment

• Community services– Policy formation around local issues important

It has been argued that the purpose of localgovernment is to give purpose and expression to localidentity, to identify local concerns and set localpriorities

Issues• Citizens would generally like to see a DEM

have a range of powers

• Desire for a clear vision for the “city region”

• Citizens have indicated that they want to see powers in traditional local authority areas as well as economic development and transport and potentially policing and emergency services.

SummaryDirectly Elected Mayor of Dublin41% of respondents agreed or strongly agree with the statement “A directly elected

mayor of Dublin would be able to attract investment into the Dublin region”.55% of respondents agreed or strongly agree with the statement “A directly elected

mayor of Dublin would give the city an improved global identity”.52% of respondents agreed or strongly agree with the statement “A directly elected

mayor would improve how Dublin is managed and run”.23% of respondents agreed or strongly agree with the statement “The rest of Ireland

would benefit from Dublin having a directly elected mayor”.61% of respondents felt that Dublin should have a directly elected mayor, 14% felt that

Dublin should not have a directly elected mayor and 25% were not sure.46% of respondents felt that a directly elected mayor of Dublin should govern the

County Dublin area.40% of those objecting to the idea of a directly elected mayor for Dublin cited the cost

of implementing the role as the reason for their objection.The policy area over which most respondents felt that a directly elected mayor should

have power or some power over was community services (74% of respondents).