Sharp differences in the ability of local authorities to recycle waste have been revealed by the first performance league table to date. Mark Hennessy, Political Correspondent, reports.
Cork County Council, for example, managed to keep just 2.55 per cent of its household waste out of dumps, compared with the 49.5 per cent record achieved by Galway City Council.
"Galway is more advanced with the segregation of rubbish. Other local authorities, including Cork, need to put facilities in place," said Minister for the Environment Dick Roche.
The report, which set the performance of local authorities against 42 separate checks, was carried out on behalf of the Department of the Environment by the Local Government Management Services Board.
The league tables examine the record of local authorities on housing, planning, waste, water, fire, libraries and the arts.
The patchy record is reflected across a variety of waste. Offaly County Council recovered 43 tonnes of glass per 5,000 people while Fingal did considerably better, collecting more than 100 tonnes.
The Offaly local authority was also poor at gathering aluminium cans - collecting just one tonne for each 5,000 of its population, while South Dublin County Council, despite having a kerbside collection service, collected just 790kg per 5,000 people.
Meanwhile, the league tables show the difficulty facing local authority planners as they struggle to cope with the country's building boom.
Nearly 40,000 permissions were granted last year for one-off houses. More than 5,000 of these were granted in Co Donegal, nearly 4,000 in Co Cork, 2,300 in Co Kerry and 3,224 were granted in Co Galway.
Despite charges by supporters of one-off houses that planners oppose such developments, it is clear that the majority of applications are accepted without change.
In Donegal, three-quarters were accepted. The decision of the local authority to refuse permission in 25 per cent of cases was subsequently upheld by An Bord Pleanála in 56.25 per cent of those cases.
Westmeath County Council has the toughest safeguards in place, rejecting 54.76 per cent of all applications. Interestingly, An Bord Pleanála supported the decision of planners in 83 per cent of cases sent to it for appeal.
Kerry County Council rejected one-third of all applications, although An Bord Pleanála overturned its decision in 52 per cent of cases sent to it for appeal.
Though league tables could "never capture the full complexity" of local government, they could give an insight into general standards, the Minister said.
The league tables will now be published annually, so that local authorities' performance can be judged, although the number and type of league tables will remain unchanged for the next two years.
The County and City Managers Association said the league tables reflected the co-operation between the department and local authorities.
The tables "provide evidence of the strong performance of local authorities throughout the country and the essential role that they play in shaping and sustaining their local community".
The chairman of the association, Des Mahon said: "Inevitably some results are not satisfactory. In such cases, now that there is clear evidence, it is up to the individual authorities, with the manager and elected members working together, to decide on what action to take."