The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban planning and development, amenity and culture, and environment.

The council is the third largest local authority in Ireland with a population of 265,205 (Census 2011), 90,000 households, and 6,000 businesses, covering an area of 222.74 square kilometres.

[16] Its function is to co-ordinate the work of the Committees so that policy decisions can be discussed and agreed for recommendation to the full council.

[19] Members of South Dublin County Council are elected for a five-year term of office on the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV) from multi-member local electoral areas (LEAs).

[24][25] In 2019, South Dublin County Council sanctioned the mass dumping of silt in a wetlands park which it had previously vowed to protect.

[30][31] A large part of the park's ecosystem was destroyed, buried under several feet of silt which was then leveled with heavy machinery.

[32] The destruction enraged environmental groups, who estimated that thousands of animals were buried and killed, including several protected and endangered species.

[30][32] In response, the council confirmed that they would review their silt disposal process,[30] while admitting no wrongdoing.