Local Government

The responsibility for budget management and control is being cascaded down to individual Departments and Centres within Irish Local Government.  This creates a need for those with the responsibility for these areas and Elected Members to understand the financial processes, reports and documents that they are being asked to comment upon.

This half day Budget Management and Control for Local Government course is designed to provide the support needed by detailing the system of preparing budgets, the process by which actual expenditure is calculated and the control system used whereby actual and budgetary figures are compared to produce ‘variances’.  The process of analysing variances, for the purpose of explaining under or over spending is a key aspect of this course, in the same way that is the main means of effecting budgetary control in Local Government.

Commercial Rates Law is a one day online course that is for staff working within the Irish Local Government Sector who are dealing with the process of collecting commercial rates.

Debt Management Units have been established in Irish Local Authorities to deal with many areas of debt management including debts associated with commercial rates, housing rents and housing loans. The focus of this course centres specifically on the area of commercial rates law.

Courtroom Skills is a one-day intensive training course that is ideal for anyone who may be expected to give evidence in court in a professional capacity. Participants will learn about effective courtroom presentation and communication skills. Particular focus is placed on confidence building and assertive communication. 

Debt Collection Techniques is for staff working in Debt Management Units within the Irish Local Government Sector.

Debt Management Units have been established in Irish Local Authorities to deal with many areas of debt management including debts associated with commercial rates, housing rents and housing loans. The focus of this course centres on how staff working in these units can develop techniques to better handle and deal with the process of debt collection.

The Social Housing Fundamentals course is designed for newly appointed (technical and non-technical) staff in Local Authorities (Grades 3-6) and Approved Housing Bodies who provide social housing services.  It will provide participants with an overview of key elements of housing policy, the social housing market and housing services.  This is a one day online course and can also be delivered as bespoke course within an Irish Local Authority.

Scenarios and Roleplay Training for Housing Practitioners is a one day programme for Official Visitors to a person/s in the person/s home. This includes Local Authority Officers, Officials and Inspectors that must have access to the persons home for official reasons.

The Institute of Public Administration, working in close collaboration with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage presents the Standards for Rented Houses Training Programme. This training programme is for all staff, both professional/technical and administrative, who have responsibilities related to enforcement of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019.

The programme seeks to bring about a common understanding among Inspectorate Staff, and thereby a standardisation, in interpretation and implementation of the Regulations and guidelines both within individual local authorities and across the sector generally.

Understanding Company Accounts is a half day online course that is for staff working in Debt Management Units within the Irish Local Government Sector.

Debt Management Units have been established in Irish Local Authorities to deal with many areas of debt management including debts associated with commercial rates, housing rents and housing loans. The focus of this course centres on the management of debts associated with commercial rates.

Understanding Local Government Finance is a specialist-led online one-day course that is designed to provide participants with a basic understanding of how an Irish Local Authority sources their income to fund day to day expenditure and capital expenditure. The course will also provide participants with an appreciation of how the budget process works in a Local Authority and an understanding of the Income and Expenditure Account and Balance Sheet of a Local Authority. Finally, the course will examine the role of internal and external audit in a local government context.

The A – Z of Irish Local Government is designed to give an overview of each of the key services, and the principal pieces of legislation underpinning the services currently being provided by Local Authorities in Ireland. The A - Z of Irish Local Government is ideal for anyone (either from a Local Authority or from an organisation associated with the Local Government sector) who wants to develop a more wide-ranging knowledge of the sector.  This programme is currently available as a series of pre-recorded videos.