Westmeath County Council

County Westmeath - one of 26 counties in the Irish Republic - is located in the midlands, 80 km west of Dublin. It has a population of approximately 80,000. Its principal towns are Mullingar and Athlone.

Westmeath Co. Council serves the people of County Westmeath. Westmeath Co. Council is one of 34 directly elected local authorities in the Republic of Ireland. Representatives are elected to the Council from five sub-county electoral areas every five years (last election held 2004). Westmeath County Council has 23 elected members, supported by an executive lead by a County Manager and Directors of Service. In addition to the executive, the council is served by a number of committees including Policy Groups - Strategic Policy Committees and a Corporate Policy Group and area Committees for the Athlone, Coole, Kilbeggan and Mullingar areas.

The council provides a range of services to the citizens of Westmeath and its customers including Transportation, Water Services, Environment Services, Planning & Development, Housing Services, Social & Cultural Services. The council also plays an active role in supporting community involvement with the local authority.

Local Government has undergone significant change in recent years since the introduction of the Better Local Government initiative. For elected members this has included a Strategic & Policy Focus for elected members with the establishment of a Corporate Policy Group and Strategic Policy Committees. Westmeath County Council has also adopted an area based Service Delivery model, establishing civic offices in its sub-county areas, supported by the area committees of the council and area-based staff, facilitating the delivery of services closer to its citizens.

Westmeath Co. Council's ICT Department provides ICT infrastructure and services to Internal Organisation (400 users), Elected Representatives Westmeath Co. Council (23 members) and Athlone Town Council (9 members) and directly to the citizens of the county through a number of online services including www.westmeathcoco.ie ,www.athlone.ie www.mullingararstcentre.ie www.belvedere-house.ie

The Local Government Computer Services Board (LGCSB) was established in 1975 to assist & enable the Irish Local Government Sector to derive maximum benefit from ICT. LGSCB is a strategic partner to Irish local authorities in the delivery of ICT services at all levels.

Working in partnership with local ICT staff, LGCSB has ensured that the Irish Local government sector is well served by a robust, scaleable and secure ICT infrastructure.

This partnership model has ensured that the complex environment in which the local government operates is supported by a standard hardware and software platform across the local authorities. LGCSB will work closely with Westmeath Co. Council on the e-Representative project to ensure integration with existing systems and the capability to roll-out to other local authorities.

eRepresentative is a project co-financed under the 6th Framework Programme of the European Union