Local Government Reform - Department of the Environment, Heritage & Local Government

A | A | A

You are here:
Home > Local Government > Local Government Reform

Gaeilge ››› English ›››

Green Paper for Local Government Reform

Mr John Gormley T.D., Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, launched the Green Paper on local government, Stronger Local Democracy - Options for Change, on April 22 2008. Stronger Local Democracy presents a set of options for change which share a strong common theme of renewing local democratic leadership.

The Green Paper proposes the introduction of a Regional Mayor for Dublin, elected directly by the people of Dublin, with strategic functions including planning, housing, waste, water provision and waste water disposal. The paper proposes that the Mayor would act as Chair of the Dublin Transport Authority.

Stronger Local Democracy also makes the case that greater local leadership, accountability and connection with the citizen can be achieved through the provision of directly elected mayors for all counties and cities.

The possibility of introducing revised structures for local governance for key Gateways, such as Limerick, Waterford and Sligo, is also considered. Examples of revised structures include unitary authorities for county and city, a single elected mayor to lead both county and city, or cross-boundary metropolitan mayors.

The Paper proposes that town government can be strengthened by allowing for greater devolution of local decisions from county to town level, within overall county level strategies.

A range of initiatives are discussed to allow local people to play a greater role in local decision making, including local plebiscites, petition rights, participatory budgeting and town meetings.

Stronger Local Democracy stresses the need for continuous change, flexibility and imagination in service delivery. Greater movement towards the sharing services between local authorities is also advocated.

The Paper also sets out the issues for debate on the financing of local government which will feed into the work of the Commission on Taxation.

Options for the introduction of local election spending limits are proposed, as is greater oversight of local government ethics compliance by the Standards in Public Office Commission.

Stronger Local Democracy can be downloaded here:

Stronger Local Democracy (PDF version)

Stronger Local Democracy (Word version)

Stronger Local Democracy (html version)

The Irish version of the document can be accessed by using the Gaeilge button at the top of the page.

Public Consultation

The purpose of Stronger Local Democracy - Options for Change is not to arrive at a single solution, but to present options for further consideration and debate. The Paper was prepared following consideration of an initial round of public consultation and consideration of the issues by a Consultative Committee. A further round of public consultation, including regional seminars, was held from April 2008 until July 2008.

Athlone Seminar - Workshop Outcomes (Word version)

Cork Seminar - Workshop Outcomes (Word version)

Dublin Seminar -Workshop Outcomes (Word version)

Limerick Seminar - Workshop Outcomes (Word version)

Sligo Seminar - Workshop Outcomes (Word version)

Waterford Seminar- Workshop Outcomes (Word Version)

Public Consultation Submissions

Following the publication of the Green Paper on Local Government Reform in April, 2008 a further round of public consultation was launched to inform the drafting of the White Paper and this concluded on 31 July, 2008. 79 submissions were received and are published below (links to the index are set out). As a number of contributors have asked that their submissions remain confidential these do not appear below.

Please contact Veronica Healy 01-888-2388 or veronica.healy@environ.ie if you have any queries about the submissions

INDEX OF SUBMISSIONS

Individual Submissions
Councillor Frank Chambers, Mr John James Connolly, Mr Gavin Crowley, Ms Marian Crudge, Mr Brian Davison, Mr Dan Donovan, Mr Michael Ewing, Councillor Anne Ferris, Mr Jason Fitzharris, Mr John Goodwillie, Mr David Greene, Mr Roy Johnston, Councillor Kathleen Kelleher, Mr Andrew Martin, Councillor Keith Martin, Councillor Derek Mitchell, Senator Marc MacSharry, Ms Colette O’Connell and Mr Otteran O Mahony, Mr John Ryan, Mr Mike Sweeney, Mr Cormac Walsh.

Individual Submissions on the Green Paper on Local Government (doc, 380 kb)

Group Submissions
Ardee Town Council, BMW Assembly, Citizens Information Board, Clonakilty Town Council, Combat Poverty, Comhar, Cork Chamber, Cork County Council, Councillor Eamon Maloney on behalf of Dublin South West, Labour Party, De Borda Institute, Dublin Chamber of Commerce, Fine Gael Members of Monaghan County Council, Forfas, Greystones Town Council, Irish Regional Authorities, Irish Uplands Forum, Kildare County Council, Laois County Council, Mid-West Regional Authority, National Youth Council of Ireland, North Tipperary County Council, PLANET-Partnerships Network, Retail Excellence, Rehab Group, Sinn Fein, South Dublin County Council, South East Regional Authority, Mr Emmet M. Stagg T.D. and Councillors John McGinley, Kevin Byrne, Sean Purcell and Colm Purcell, Tallaght Residents and Community Umbrella, TASC(A Thinktank on Social Change), Tipperary Institute of Rural Development, Westmeath County Council.

Group Submissions on the Green Paper on Local Government (doc, 1,037 kb)

Local Authority Association Submissions
ACCC (will be published in due course)

AMAI

ACCC, AMAI, AMAI, ACCC and LAMA-Joint Submission, (doc, 32 kb)

Local Authority Association Submissions on the Green Paper on Local Government (doc, 101 kb)

PDF Submissions

Barry Murphy/Sinn Fein Cumann, Ballincollig, Co Cork (pdf, 13,825 kb)

Carrigaline Town Council Formation Committee (pdf, 75 kb)

CCMA (pdf, 576 kb)

Mr Tom Chambers (pdf, 607 kb)

Clare County Council (pdf, 598 kb)

Cork City Council (pdf, 1,041 kb)