Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 May 2024
192. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department will provide resourcing for local authorities to undertake participatory budgeting programmes in the next local authority mandate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22213/24]
View answerThere are many existing avenues of engagement between the public and local authorities that influence budgetary decisions, including through SPCs, public consultations on LPT decisions and a range of community engagement structures. As part of the Programme for Government, there is a commitment to incentivise local authorities to bring forward pilot participatory budgeting projects. I welcome consideration of the topic, and am supportive of proposals to further raise the awareness, engagement and understanding of citizens in the local government budgetary process.
Further consideration will be given to this Programme for Government commitment during 2024, bearing in mind the need to balance public participation with the reserved role of the elected members in relation to budgetary matters.
