Westmeath excel in financial collections but lag in housing retrofits, NOAC report reveals

Westmeath County Council has demonstrated robust financial management and low housing vacancy rates, though challenges remain in housing turnaround times and climate retrofitting, according to the latest independent assessment. The National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) published its twelfth annual Local Authority Performance Indicator Report last week, evaluating the performance of Irish councils across 2025.

Financially, Westmeath performed exceptionally well, matching a positive national trend in revenue collection. The local authority achieved a strong 97% collection rate for both commercial rates and rent and annuities, while housing loan collections reached an impressive 102%. By the end of 2025, Westmeath maintained a healthy cumulative revenue account surplus of €485,292, showcasing high standards of fiscal governance and resource management.

Housing results presented a mixed picture for the Lake County. On a positive note, Westmeath’s social housing vacancy rate stood at a remarkably low 1.77% at the end of the year, well below the national average vacancy rate of 2.44%, which itself represented a nationwide low since 2015. The council expanded its housing stock, adding 137 dwellings to bring its total owned stock to 2,490 units, while spending an average of €1,525.04 per unit on standard housing maintenance across the year.

However, significant bottlenecks persist in returning vacant homes to use. The average time taken by Westmeath County Council to re-let a vacant dwelling stood at 35.09 weeks, tracking slower than the already high national average of 32 weeks.

This transition process came with a substantial financial cost, costing the council an average of €21,776.81 per home to prepare for new tenants.

Furthermore, the report highlighted a stark shortfall in local climate action targets. Westmeath recorded one of the lowest numbers of energy efficiency upgrades in the country, retrofitting just 14 local authority homes under the Social Housing Retrofit Programme.

Nationally, NOAC warned that the current pace of upgrades is unlikely to meet the 2030 target of retrofitting 36,500 properties to a B2 rating. On a positive note, all 14 of Westmeath's retrofitted homes successfully achieved a B2 rating or higher, generating 208.6 MWh in annual energy savings.

Infrastructure investment remained a primary focus, with the council strengthening 5.9km of regional roads and 66.9km of local roads in 2025. Additionally, local job creation thrived, with the Local Enterprise Office supporting the creation of 131.99 jobs per 100,000 population. Commenting generally on the national findings, NOAC Chair Michael McCarthy welcomed the progress in local service delivery, stating that performance indicators are increasingly acting as “a practical management tool to support service improvement and informed decision-making”.