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Property taxes are common in countries around the world. Until recently, Ireland was an exception as there was no annual tax on residential property. This paper is a review of the Local Property Tax (LPT) system that was introduced in 2013 and had its first property revaluations in 2021. Using the lens of municipal finance and tax assignment, the rationale, history, features and administration of this new residential property tax are outlined. While recognising country-specific circumstances, lessons, opportunities and challenges are explored with a view to future improvements in the design and implementation of the LPT. Lessons from the LPT experience are the importance of tax administration and the role of the central tax collection agency, and, in terms of design, the need for a tailored approach to suit local circumstances. Challenges include the rates/LPT mix and the relative tax burdens on non-residential and residential properties, the long-term sustainability of the LPT arising from design issues, the current low tax rate and future revaluations, and, finally, the need for regular property tax reform because of political and taxpayers’ opposition to a highly visible, unpopular but good local tax.

Given the changes in the Irish economy since the economic crisis and, more specifically, reforms in the local government sector, this paper reassesses the financial position and fiscal sustainability of local authorities in Ireland. To do this we employ a local government financial performance framework that measures liquidity and solvency, but also operating performance and collection rates, for different sources of revenue income. Using financial data sourced from local council income and expenditure accounts and balance sheets, we report and analyse the financial position and performance during the 2007–17 period. The results indicate an improvement in the financial performance of local councils since the early 2010s. Cross-council differences persist, in particular, between large urban local authorities and smaller rural local authorities, albeit only for the liquidity and operating performance measures. Among the small rural councils, Sligo County Council’s financial position, although improving, remains a serious matter with ongoing consultation with and monitoring by central government. To help improve the measurement of local authority financial performance we recommend inclusion of this framework in the local authority Annual Financial Statement and also in the Performance Indicator Report with a view to making financial reports more accessible and transparent to citizens and taxpayers and, ultimately, to help improve performance and service delivery by the local authorities.

The years since the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent economic crash have witnessed significant changes to the funding of the local government system in Ireland. This paper outlines these developments, while, at the same time, exploring some of the most important future challenges relating to the financing of Irish local authorities. The dominant local government revenue issues of the last decade outlined here are fiscal autonomy and the balance between own-source income and central government grants, income differences between urban and rural councils, the Local Property Tax, changes in commercial rates and fiscal equalisation. In terms of fiscal dependency and equalisation, our findings show reductions in the vertical and horizontal fiscal imbalances in the Irish local government system. Likely future challenges include the need to re-examine the balance between business taxes and non-business taxes, funding the expected growth in metropolitan areas and the financing options for capital investment by local authorities, including consideration of municipal bond issuance for the Greater Dublin Area.

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.

It was over a quarter of a century ago that information from the financial statements was used to benchmark the efficiency and effectiveness of local government in the US. With the global adoption of New Public Management ideas, benchmarking practice spread to the public sector and has been employed to drive reforms aimed at improving performance and, ultimately, service delivery and local outcomes. The manner in which local authorities in OECD countries compare and benchmark their performance varies widely. The methodology developed in this paper to rate the relative financial performance of Irish city and county councils is adapted from an earlier assessment tool used to measure the financial condition of small cities in the US. Using our financial performance framework and the financial data in the audited annual financial statements of Irish local councils, we calculate composite scores for each of the thirty-four local authorities for the years 2007–13. This paper contributes composite scores that measure the relative financial performance of local councils in Ireland, as well as a full set of yearly results for a seven-year period in which local governments witnessed significant changes in their financial health. The benchmarking exercise is useful in highlighting those councils that, in relative financial performance terms, are the best/worst performers.

Objectives: Health care guidelines recommend psychological interventions for childhood unusual experiences that are associated with distress or adverse functional impact (UEDs), based on adult, rather than child-specific, evidence. We report the first randomized controlled evaluation of the acceptability and potential clinical utility of cognitive behavioural therapy for childhood UEDs (CBT-UED)., Design: Pilot randomized controlled trial., Methods: Participants aged 8-14 years were recruited from referrals to community services for children with emotional/behavioural problems and screened for self-reported UEDs., Results: Of around 1,000 referrals over 36 months, 304 (30%) were identified to the research team, 174 (57%) were successfully contacted, 110 (63%) consented to screening, 96 (87%) attended a screening assessment, and 51 (53%) reported UEDs. Forty-nine (96%) consented to randomization to either CBT-UED (9-12 weekly sessions of 40-50 min, adjunctive to usual care, n = 24) or treatment-as-usual/waitlist control (TAU/WL, n = 25). Childhood internalizing emotional symptoms (e.g., feeling 'nervous'/'scared'/'tearful'/'worried'/'sick'; proposed primary outcome), UEDs, depression, anxiety, and childhood psychopathology (secondary outcomes) were measured at baseline, at 12 weeks, and, where therapy was ongoing but incomplete (<12 sessions) at 12 weeks, at end-of-treatment (EOT). Twenty-two CBT-UED participants (92%) attended ≥5 sessions. Forty-four participants (90%) completed 12-week assessments (CBT-UED, n = 21/24, 88%; TAU/WL, n = 23/25, 92%). Preliminary findings were encouraging for emotional symptoms and UEDs, but otherwise mixed., Conclusions: Retention, screening, and consent rates were as anticipated; recruitment took longer than planned. Trial procedures were acceptable to young people, their families, and clinicians. Therapy exceeded 12 weeks, but was well-received, with no serious adverse events attributed to participation. Further evaluation is needed., Practitioner Points: Around half of 8- to 14-year-olds in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services reported distressing unusual experiences. An age-adapted cognitive behavioural intervention appears feasible, and safe to deliver, with the potential to augment standard care. This is a pilot study, and further evaluation is needed. Longer term outcomes should be a focus of future evaluation., (© 2018 The British Psychological Society.)

Mirror self-recognition is often considered as an index of self-awareness. Neuroimaging studies have identified a neural circuit specialised for the recognition of one's own current facial appearance. However, faces change considerably over a lifespan, highlighting the necessity for representations of one's face to continually be updated. We used fMRI to investigate the different neural circuits involved in the recognition of the childhood and current, adult, faces of one's self. Participants viewed images of either their own face as it currently looks morphed with the face of a familiar other or their childhood face morphed with the childhood face of the familiar other. Activity in areas which have a generalised selectivity for faces, including the inferior occipital gyrus, the superior parietal lobule and the inferior temporal gyrus, varied with the amount of current self in an image. Activity in areas involved in memory encoding and retrieval, including the hippocampus and the posterior cingulate gyrus, and areas involved in creating a sense of body ownership, including the temporo-parietal junction and the inferior parietal lobule, varied with the amount of childhood self in an image. We suggest that the recognition of one's own past or present face is underpinned by different cognitive processes in distinct neural circuits. Current self-recognition engages areas involved in perceptual face processing, whereas childhood self-recognition recruits networks involved in body ownership and memory processing., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Quantifying the hemodynamic results of elastic compression requires invasive and cumbersome techniques. Twenty lower extremities (normal, primary, acute and chronic post-thrombotic varicosities) were evaluated with quantitative photoplethysmography (PPG) prior and subsequent to initiating graded compression. The PPG transducer is placed against the stockings and the in vivo method of calibration is used to predict the results of compressive therapy on ambulatory venous pressure (AVP). (table see text) Noninvasive evaluation of patients with quantitative PPG techniques following compressive therapy may provide a better understanding of venous hemodynamics and a rational approach to selection of therapy.

Segmental limb blood pressures (BPs) measured by Doppler ultrasound and digit photoplethysmography were used to define hemodynamic correlates of wound healing in 122 lower-extremity amputations for ischemia. Healing of digit or transmetatarsal amputations were influenced by the presence of diabetes and correlated better with digit pulsation and BP than with ankle pressure. Healing of below-knee amputation did not correlate with segmental limb BPs. In the absence of an absolute threshold to predict wound healing or failure, caution is urged in using hemodynamic indices to select the level of amputation of arterial insufficiency.