The environment in which local government in Ireland operates has greatly altered in the past 20 years. Local government has played a key role in shaping and facilitating change over this time through the provision of infrastructure, new services and the operation of the planning system. The structural improvements to the local government administrative system under Better Local Government (1996) have strengthened the sector’s capacity to represent local communities, to shape local policy and to deliver a wider range of services. However, the major changes which have occurred in Ireland in recent years have confronted local government with a new set of challenges.

The Challenge Ahead
Local government is tasked with serving a larger, more diverse, more educated and more demanding population. In addition to providing traditional ‘hard’ services, such as housing, roads and water etc, local authorities must now give more time to the more complex ‘softer’ tasks of community building. Coordinating development and providing essential services, particularly in areas of significant population growth, will remain a demanding task.

Local government also faces onerous environmental management tasks in dealing with waste, protecting water quality and addressing the challenges of climate change.

Coping with these challenges requires innovation and high performance.

Despite the Irish people’s strong identity with place, including the connection to their county, the complexities and pressures of everyday life are militating against meaningful opportunities for civic participation and weakening the connection between citizens and their institutions of local democracy.

The Programme for Government includes a commitment to reform local government to make it more transparent and more responsive to its customers. This Paper represents the first response to that commitment. It presents an opportunity to reshape local government so that it is fit for purpose for the challenges ahead.

The consideration of the future of local government in Ireland has been informed by several guiding principles:

The discussion on local government is also grounded in the recognition that, if local government is to flourish and excel, central Government must demonstrate a greater appreciation of the value of local priority setting. It must also trust local authorities to deliver new services, building on local government’s role in representing the democratic expression of local communities. For this to happen local government needs to be strengthened from within to give stronger expression to local political leadership and greater local democratic accountability.

The Consultation Process
Stronger Local Democracy – Options for Change is the first phase of an open and inclusive policy formulation process. The purpose of a Green Paper is not to arrive at a single solution, but to present options for further consideration and debate. In response to a public consultation period, approximately 80 submissions were received from the public, local authorities, civil society organisations etc. A Consultative Committee representing local government interests, Government Departments (Finance; Transport; Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs) and other experts advised on each of the issues examined.

Copies of submissions received and details of the Committee’s discussions can be found on the Department’s website at www.environ.ie .

Towards Stronger Local Democracy
The key proposals are set out below. The central theme of the Paper is that local government can deliver more if equipped to do so. It suggests that the sector can be strengthened by providing a greater role for local, democratic and responsible leadership. This poses a challenge to a number of interests, including central government. It also provides an opportunity to create a more dynamic and less dependent local government system.

There is a recognition that Dublin, as a highly successful urban centre, faces a number of strategic challenges in areas including planning, transport, housing, waste, water provision and waste water disposal. It is therefore proposed that a regional mayor for Dublin with defined strategic functions should be introduced. The role of the mayor in relation to current and future institutional arrangements needs careful consideration, particularly in regard to the 4 Dublin local authorities, the adjoining local authorities, and national offices. It is proposed, for example, that the Dublin mayor should become the Chair of the proposed Dublin Transport Authority. Detailed consideration will need to be given to the administrative and institutional supports necessary for the proper functioning of a mayoral office in Dublin.

The Paper considers that greater local leadership, accountability and connection with the citizen ¹ can be achieved through the provision of directly elected mayors for all counties and cities. As a complementary measure, the chairs of each local authority’s Strategic Policy Committees should be elected for the full term of the council.

The managerial system has served Irish local government well and local authorities will continue to rely on professional managers to provide impartial, professional administration and guidance. It is suggested, however, that mayors might be assigned certain key powers of initiative and that, over time, their role in overseeing the work of the local authorities, local development agencies and national agencies at local level should evolve further.

In examining town government, the Paper examines the principles of efficient service provision and the democratic legitimacy provided by town councils. The establishment of new town councils would need careful consideration having regard to the potential impact on resources and efficient service delivery. In terms of functions, measures such as the empowerment of existing town councils through devolved decision making and the negotiated transfer of functions from county to town level are proposed for examination. Measures such as participatory budgeting, binding local plebiscites and town meetings could also be developed to foster direct, meaningful contact between councils and the citizen.

The culture of continuous change is stressed, as is the need for local government flexibility and imagination in service delivery. Greater movement towards the sharing of services is advocated. Local authorities have many achievements which should be better showcased. Elected mayors will be important in raising the profile of achievement.

The establishment of a mayoral office in Dublin, with a regional remit, suggests that consideration should be given to revised structures for local governance in other key Gateways, such as Limerick, Waterford and Sligo, to overcome fragmentation of local authority responsibilities while respecting county boundaries.

A relationship of trust between central and local government is advocated, in which central government can, in time, transfer appropriate functions and responsibilities to local control. The Paper also suggests that the local government sector could work more effectively in a collective way to further the aims of strong local government. Also addressed are issues such as local authority boundaries, the Local Government Commission and the numbers of councillors.

The need for proper funding of local government is recognised. Autonomy in fund raising increases local discretion and accountability. However, there is little consensus on how best to achieve such autonomy. This is an issue which will receive in depth analysis in the context of the recently established Commission on Taxation, which is to consider the issue of local government financing.

The Paper also suggests the need for greater cohesion between local government law and general ethics legislation. A clearer oversight role for the Standards in Public Office Commission is proposed. It is recommended that local electoral expenditure limits should be introduced but that the bureaucracy involved in any new procedures should be kept to a minimum.

Structure of Paper
The issues above are addressed in detail starting with a discussion on the major challenges facing local government, and the place of local government in Ireland, followed by detailed consideration of the various issues mentioned above.

Next Steps
The outcome of the debate around the options presented will inform the drafting of the White Paper. Public consultation will follow publication of Stronger Local Democracy – Options for Change with the intention of publishing a White Paper, complete with a suite of recommended policies, next autumn, to be followed by legislation. The next local elections will take place in 2009 and the White Paper will address the timing of new reforms.