Local Government Reform

Government policy on local government reform was set out in Putting People First: Action Programme for Effective Local Government published in October 2012.

The Local Government Reform Act 2014 introduced many of these reforms with effect from 1 June 2014.

This included:

• merging of the city and county councils of Waterford and Limerick and the two county councils in Tipperary
• dissolution of town councils
• introduction of 95 municipal districts
• a new regional assembly structure.

Under the 2014 legislation councillors have stronger policy making powers and a greater level of control over the actions of the local authority chief executive. Local authorities are also able to become more involved in the economic development of their communities.

The key structural changes can be summarised as follows:

• local authorities reduced from 114 to 31
• elected members reduced from 1,627 to 949
• 80 town councils dissolved
• 95 municipal districts established
• 8 regional authorities and 2 regional assemblies replaced by 3 regional assemblies
• regional members reduced from 290 to 83.

The Department is currently undertaking a review of “Putting People First - Action Programme for Effective Local Government” (2012) in order to:

• assess the implementation of the 2014 reforms across the local government sector
• consider the potential for further devolved powers and other modernisations of the local government system.

There are 95 municipal districts covering the entire area of each county (apart from Dublin, Cork and Galway cities).

Districts correspond with local electoral areas except in the case of the:

• Dundalk, Kilkenny City, and Mullingar municipal districts where each municipal district comprises two local electoral areas
• metropolitan districts of Limerick and Waterford, which contain three local electoral areas each.

The first local election to the municipal districts was in June 2014. Councillors elected for each local electoral area are the municipal district members for the relevant municipal district. The plenary council (the county council or the city and county council) consists of the combined membership of all municipal districts.

The municipal district members perform a range of statutory functions in respect of their own district. Other matters of wider strategic application are generally decided at county level by the elected members from all the municipal districts.

Review of Municipal Districts

The 2020 Programme for Government: Our Shared Future, gave a commitment to consider the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) Review of Municipal Districts, with a view to:

• strengthening local democracy
• identifying the local needs and initiatives required to strengthen and grow our communities, villages and towns in a sustainable manner.

An assessment of the IPA Report Municipal Districts: A Review and an examination of the operation of Municipal Districts is underway to determine the supports and improvements required to enhance their performance.

The Department has undertaken surveys of the local government sector to obtain their views on these matters and hosted a number of workshops to get more in-depth feedback on some of the key items that required further consideration. The results of these findings are available below:

In January 2015, the Minister established two independent statutory committees to examine the most appropriate arrangements for local government in Cork City and County and Galway City and County.

In each case the committees were asked to examine the boundaries between the city and county and to make recommendations as to:

• whether or not either boundary should be altered, or
• if the two local authorities should be unified in either or both cases.

There were five members on each committee with expertise in local government, law, business and academia.

Cork City Boundary Review

Provisions to enable a revised boundary for Cork City were included in the Local Government Bill 2018 which was published on 25 July 2018. The 2018 Bill, having passed all stages in the Dáil and Seanad, was enacted on the 31 of January 2019 and became the Local Government Act 2019.

The 2019 Act provided for the transfer of part of the administrative area of Cork County Council to the administrative area of Cork City Council. The extended Cork City area now includes Ballincollig, Carrigrohane, Blarney, Glanmire, and Cork airport.

Galway City Boundary Review

In 2015, a Galway Local Government Review Committee recommended the establishment of a new unified Galway authority rather than boundary alteration. The Group concluded that this would maximise the potential of the region to maintain, secure and grow a sustainable economic base into the future. It would also combine the respective strengths of the two existing authorities in terms of resources, staff and expertise.

The Galway Expert Advisory Group (GEAG) which submitted a second report on 26 April 2018 also recommended unanimously to create a single administrative area for Galway City Council and Galway County Council.

The Government endorsed this recommendation by Cabinet decision in June 2018 and provisions to give effect to this policy decision were included in the Local Government Bill 2018. However, the provisions were not approved in the Seanad and were withdrawn to allow the rest of the 2018 Bill to proceed.

Town Boundary Reviews

In June 2015 four independent statutory committees were established by the Minister to review local government boundaries in Athlone, Carlow, Drogheda and Waterford.

In each case, the committees were asked to:

• carry out a review of the boundary between the respective counties and city and county
• make recommendations with respect to those boundaries
• make any consequential recommendations with respect to the areas of the Municipal, Borough or Metropolitan Districts that they considered to be necessary in the interests of effective local government.

On foot of the 2015 Independent Statutory Committees recommendations, it was determined that a new joint statutory structure would be introduced. The new structure would ensure that proper channels are in place for planning and development where an urban centre significantly straddles two local authority boundaries. This structure would be known as an Urban Area Committee.

Urban Area Committees

Provisions to establish Urban Area Committees (UACs) were approved by Government and were included at Committee Stage of the Local Government Bill 2018. However, the provisions were not passed in the Seanad and were removed to allow the rest of the 2018 Bill to proceed.

Nevertheless, legislation to establish Urban Area Committees remains under active consideration.

The Minister established two independent Local Electoral Area Boundary Committees (No. 1 and No. 2) on 13 December 2017 to review and make recommendations on local electoral areas (LEAs) having regard to, among other things:

• the results of Census 2016
• the commitment to consider reducing the size of territorially large local electoral areas
• ensuring adequate levels of representation for towns and urban areas.

Both Committees submitted their reports in June 2018 and these are available below:

• Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee No.1 Report 2018
• Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee No.2 Report 2018

Statutory Instruments to give effect to both of the Local Electoral Area Boundary Committees recommendations, including some minor adjustments after due consideration, were made in early 2019. The Local Electoral Area Boundary Review of 2018 is now deemed to be completed.

Email: LGSM@housing.gov.ie