Ireland Unitary state

Reforms

A significant reform of the local public administration is currently in preparation in Ireland.

In October 2012, the Irish government submitted a proposal to reform the local administration. As regards the competences of the country’s local governments, the text notably provides for broader powers over the economic development of the territories. Authorities should also benefit from greater influence, as they would become the preferred contact and coordinator for the different local actors. However, certain other competences are no longer to be managed at the local level, such as water management, which is to be taken over by the governmental agency Irish Water.

Setting out to improve public administration efficiency, the reform also proposes the merger of certain local governments. The regions, which remain at the statistical level, are to be reduced and restructured. Finally, the new legislative texts call for the creation at sub-county level of new municipal districts, and the abolition of town councils. This reform should also lead to a change in the boundaries of voting districts.

While the economic and financial crisis is not the only reason behind this reorganisation, it has pushed the government to move towards greater efficiency. This reform should lead to extensive restructuring of services and the country’s local governments are to introduce programmes to improve local efficiency, which could in turn have an impact on local and regional officials.

Local self-government in Ireland:

Even if certain competences will now fall under their scope, the currently planned reforms could cause local and regional Irish authorities to lose some of their capacity for action, both politically, due to the loss of the right to manage certain public services, as well as financially, with cuts expected in the level of financial transfers from the central state.

KEY REFORMS

• 1999 constitutional reform: constitutional basis for local governments.
• 2001 Local Government Act: reform of the first tier of local government.
• 2014 Local Government Reform Act: merger of municipal/county councils, cut in the number of local governments, restructuring of statistical regions, redrawing of some electoral division boundaries.
• New local economic development powers
• Recentralisation of water management
• Merger of some counties
• Abolition of municipal councils and creation of municipal districts at the sub-county level
• Restructuring of statistical regions
• Reorganisation of local services and introduction of efficiency programmes
• Redrawing of some electoral division boundaries