Have your say

Have Your Say €300K is a local democratic process, which facilitates citizens in a local community to directly, decide how to spend a portion of a public budget in their area. It gives people direct power to determine spending priorities to improve their community.

How does it work?

For 2017, South Dublin County Council allocated €300,000 for the Lucan-Palmerstown area. Residents through a combination of locally facilitated workshops and an online consultation portal www.sdcc.ie/haveyoursay were invited to submit their spending priorities for this budget. In the first instance, proposals were then assessed in terms of their community benefit. A panel of elected councillors and council staff conducted the assessment. Selected proposals were then be costed and re-presented to the public on www.sdcc.ie/haveyoursay. The public voted were invited to vote for their priorities up to the value of €300,000. Following the closure of the voting period those proposals receiving the highest vote with a combined value of €300,000, were chosen to proceed to completion within the following 12-month period.

FAQs

Is this a new concept?

What are the main benefits of Participatory Budgeting?

Participatory Budgeting gives you and your neighbours the power to improve your area as a place to live, work and play. It is empowering, civic minded and fun. It is also educational, fair and transparent.

Does it mean extra money for a chosen area?

Yes. This is €300,000 additional real money over and above the normal yearly budget for your area.

Is it only for Lucan-Palmerstown?

It was decided to pilot this initiative in one area in 2017 with Lucan chosen by lot at a public meeting of the Council. It is envisioned that it will be rolled out to further areas following a review process.

Is this not the job of Elected Councillors?

It is the function of the Councillors to adopt the Annual Budget of South Dublin County Council, including the identification of spending priorities. While Councillors are elected by the people to represent their views and work on their behalf, this is an ongoing process of consultative decision-making. In this instance, the Councillors decided to set aside €300,000 extra discretionary funds to allow citizens to directly identify their own priorities for their community. This initiative is in the interests of enhanced democracy and citizen consultation.