Health services a worry for only 3% of south Dubliners

Health services were of major concern to and impacted on the lives of only 3 per cent of people in the south Dublin area, according to the South Dublin County Development Board.

The surprise result was part of a survey on the aspirations and opinions of people in the administrative county of south Dublin, which includes much of the southwest of the city.

The survey was commissioned by the development board in advance of its 10-year strategy, which will be launched in just over a month's time.

As part of preparations for the strategy, the board surveyed people in the county to "make sure that the issues we felt were of concern, were the issues the people of south Dublin were concerned with", said its chairman, Mr John Hannon.

The development board includes State agencies, voluntary bodies and the social partners.

Mr Hannon said: "Sometimes there is a danger that bodies focus on issues that they feel are really the problem areas, which may not be what the community is seeking."

Overall the board was not surprised by the results, with the exception of health services, which did not feature highly in the category of "poor services that impact on your life".

Traffic was of most concern in that category where 46 per cent of respondents felt it impacted badly on them.

Social and affordable housing (14 per cent), public transport (7 per cent) and police and justice (5 per cent) were the other issues of most concern.

"We would all say that traffic is a problem, but before, that was based on anecdotal evidence or gut feeling." There is now "empirical evidence to back up our hunches", said Mr Hannon.

He believed the survey would assist the development board to provide better "joined-up government". Lansdowne Market Research interviewed 300 people face-to-face on a random sample basis.

The survey, which cost €12,697, was conducted by Lansdowne Market Research last December and January.

It questioned people on the basis of male or female, under four age categories, how long they were living in the county, whether they had children, and under two social categories, ABC1 and C2DE.

The development strategy for the fastest-growing area in the State includes a three-year implementation plan. The board hopes to carry out a further survey then.