<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>This paper sets out to establish the extent of austerity in the Irish local government system during and after the Great Recession. Austerity is measured by the adjusted change in local government expenditure from peak to trough years, and is analysed by type of expenditure, service division and local authority. Stripping out the change in local government current spending that is due to expenditure reassignments reveals that the austerity-related reduction in local government operating expenditure is not as large as often portrayed. As for other findings, there are sizeable differences across the aforementioned classifications, with, most notably, capital expenditure cuts far exceeding cuts in current expenditure. The largest decreases in total spending were on roads and housing services, and small rural county councils endured the most austerity, as measured by the initial reductions in current expenditure. In terms of policy implications, the biggest concern is the large infrastructural deficit that needs to be tackled, arising from austerity cuts in capital expenditure imposed at both central and local government level. As the economy recovers from the Great Recession and the subsequent era of austerity, failure to address this problem will hinder Ireland’s international competitiveness, constrain the economy’s future growth rate and result in impoverishment of public services at local level.</p></abstract>

This paper sets out to establish the extent of austerity in the Irish local government system during and after the Great Recession. Austerity is measured by the adjusted change in local government expenditure from peak to trough years, and is analysed by type of expenditure, service division and local authority. Stripping out the change in local government current spending that is due to expenditure reassignments reveals that the austerity-related reduction in local government operating expenditure is not as large as often portrayed. As for other findings, there are sizeable differences across the aforementioned classifications, with, most notably, capital expenditure cuts far exceeding cuts in current expenditure. The largest decreases in total spending were on roads and housing services, and small rural county councils endured the most austerity, as measured by the initial reductions in current expenditure. In terms of policy implications, the biggest concern is the large infrastructural deficit that needs to be tackled, arising from austerity cuts in capital expenditure imposed at both central and local government level. As the economy recovers from the Great Recession and the subsequent era of austerity, failure to address this problem will hinder Ireland’s international competitiveness, constrain the economy’s future growth rate and result in impoverishment of public services at local level.

Austerity and Irish local government expenditure since the Great Recession

Whitaker Institute for Innovation and Societal Change

Administration

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

{"article-title":"Austerity and Irish local government expenditure since the Great Recession"}

This paper sets out to establish the extent of austerity in the Irish local government system during and after the Great Recession. Austerity is measured by...

Austerity and Irish local government expenditure since the Great Recession

Published Online: Dec 31, 2018

Page range: 1 - 24

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/admin-2018-0030

Keywords
Austerity, local government, expenditure adjustments, expenditure reassignments, Great Recession

© 2018 Gerard Turley et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Austerity and Irish local government expenditure since the Great Recession

Published Online: Dec 31, 2018

Page range: 1 - 24

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/admin-2018-0030

KeywordsAusterity, local government, expenditure adjustments, expenditure reassignments, Great Recession

© 2018 Gerard Turley et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
Austerity, local government, expenditure adjustments, expenditure reassignments, Great Recession