Ireland Unitary state
| IRELAND | / HISTORY |
History and trends
The Republic of Ireland is a semi-presidential Republic. Its Constitution was adopted on 1 January 1937.
The country covers 26 of Ireland’s 32 traditional counties, with the remaining six forming Northern Ireland, one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. The Republic of Ireland is a parliamentary republic with two official languages – Irish Gaelic and English.
The island of Ireland is divided into 32 counties and 4 provinces: Ulster, Connacht, Munster and Leinster. The provinces broadly trace the boundaries of the former provinces of Ireland, excluding the six counties of Northern Ireland, all of which are in Ulster.
The provinces serve no administrative purpose, and are used solely in sports (rugby union and Gaelic games).
Local level :
The counties, created by the British after the conquest of Ireland, are used for local government. The Republic of Ireland comprises 26 traditional counties, plus the counties of North Tipperary and South Tipperary, and counties formed from the division of County Dublin (South Dublin, Fingal and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown). Some cities (Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford) have a city council with equivalent powers to a county council.
The territory of the Republic of Ireland is divided into four main levels:
- statistical regions
- regional authorities
- counties and cities
- electoral divisions
The first NUTS level is not used in the Republic of Ireland (there is only one subdivision at this level, comprising the entire state).
The Republic of Ireland is the most centralised state in Europe. A task force set up in 1990 found serious weaknesses in the first tier of local government and reported that local governments had extremely limited remits and powers.
It was not until 1999 that the constitution was amended to give “local governments” a constitutional basis for the very first time. Despite several recent reforms, local self-government in the Republic of Ireland falls well short of what is seen elsewhere in Europe.
The Republic of Ireland’s local government system has long been based on a law dating back to 1898. Some minor reforms were made, particularly as regards the first tier of local government, by the 2001 Local Government Act, which entered into force on 1 January 2002.
In theory, the Republic of Ireland’s local governments have general jurisdiction. In practice, however, their activities are closely monitored by a central government representative, normally the minister of the environment, and often through prior or snap inspections. In reality, local governments do little more than implement ministerial policy.
It is important to differentiate between “reserved functions” (i.e. political functions) and “executive functions” performed by the chief executive (manager) of the city or county council, who is also responsible for each individual town and town council within his or her territory. Chief executives are civil servants “recommended” by a national committee, and local councillors have no power to object to or dismiss them.
Chief executives can attend council meetings but do not have a vote. They have extensive powers on matters such as public procurement, local tax-levying and planning permission.
In some areas, local councillors have even been stripped of some of their powers. For example, the power to devise regional waste treatment strategies has been transferred to chief executives. The same holds true on health and social security, once a major component of local governments’ activities, where almost all powers have now been transferred to central government.
Moreover, local governments have a relatively small workforce. In 2001, there were just over 160,000 public officials in the Republic of Ireland, of which 27,500 worked for local governments.
The central government is extremely heavy-handed, exercising its prior supervisory powers and never relinquishing an opportunity to conduct an inspection. For example, local governments cannot pass a simple by-law on public parks without first running it past the relevant minister for approval. Similarly, all public procurement procedures must first be approved by the government.
On local finance, first-tier and second-tier authorities have tax-levying powers. However these powers (mostly property taxes) are limited and revenues only account for a small portion of local government resources. Local governments also collect revenues from other specific taxes, duties and subsidies and, since 1998, have received a fixed allocation from the Local Government Fund, managed by the Ministry of the Environment. The fact that total local government expenditure accounts for just 11-12% of local public spending speaks volumes about the limited powers that the Republic of Ireland’s local governments enjoy.
Regional level :
The regional level consists of eight regional authorities, under ministerial control, established by the government in 1991. In reality, however, this is a “false” third tier because their remit is limited largely to economic strategy.
There are also two regional assemblies comprising elected representatives, which were set up to manage European funds. Their future remains uncertain. Other than the regional structures, all local governments in Ireland are elected by direct universal suffrage, in most cases for a five-year term.
The Local Government Reform Act abolished the eight regional authorities, replacing them with a three-region structure.