Committee Reports > List of Committees > Joint > 2001 > Committee on Environment and Local Government > Annual Report of the Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government, 2001

TITHE AN OIREACHTAIS

An Comhchoiste um Chomhshaol agus Rialtas Áitiúil

HOUSES OF THE OIREACHTAS

Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government

ANNUAL REPORT 2001

TUARASCÁIL BHLIANTÚIL 2001

Table of Contents

Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government

1. Establishment

The Select and Joint Committees on Environment and Local Government were established by order of Dáil Éireann on 13 November, 1997 and of Seanad Éireann on 19 November, 1997

2. Membership

The Members of the Joint Committee are as follows:

* Deputy Billy Timmins was appointed in place of Deputy Alan Dukes on 29 June, 2000.

* Deputy Nora Owen was appointed in place of Deputy Brian Hayes on 29 June, 2000.

* Deputy Jimmy Deenihan was appointed in place of Deputy Olivia Mitchell on 29 June, 2000.

* Deputy Michael D’Arcy was appointed in place of Deputy Jimmy Deenihan on 29 March, 2001.

* Deputy Deirdre Clune was appointed in place of Deputy Nora Owen on 29 March, 2001.

* Deputy Olivia Mitchell was appointed in place of Deputy Ivan Yates on 29 March, 2001.

The Members of the Select Committee are as follows:

Deputies:

Noel Ahern (FF)

Michael D’Arcy (FG)*

Deirdre Clune (FG)*

Eamon Gilmore (Lab)

Seán Haughey (FF)

Jackie Healy-Rae (Ind)

Billy Kelleher (FF)

Tony Killeen (FF)

Séamus Kirk (FF)

Padraic McCormack (FG)

Olivia Mitchell (FG)*

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (SF)

Seán Power (FF)

Billy Timmins (FG)*

The Members of the Joint Sub-Committee on Sustainable Development are as follows:

* Deputy Billy Timmins was appointed in place of Deputy Alan Dukes on 29 June, 2000.

* Deputy Nora Owen was appointed in place of Deputy Brian Hayes on 29 June, 2000.

* Deputy Jimmy Deenihan was appointed in place of Deputy Olivia Mitchell on 29 June, 2000.

* Deputy Michael D’Arcy was appointed in place of Deputy Jimmy Deenihan on 29 March, 2001.

* Deputy Deirdre Clune was appointed in place of Deputy Nora Owen on 29 March, 2001.

* Deputy Olivia Mitchell was appointed in place of Deputy Ivan Yates on 29 March, 2001.

* Deputy Jimmy Deenihan was appointed in place of Deputy Olivia Mitchell - 29 June, 2000.

3. Orders of Reference

Dáil Éireann

13th November, 1997, (*28^th April 1998), (** 14th February, 2001)

Ordered:

(1) (a)That a Select Committee, which shall be called the Select Committee on Environment and Local Government, consisting of 14 members of Dáil Éireann (of whom 4 shall constitute a quorum), be appointed to consider such—

(i)Bills the statute law in respect of which is dealt with by the Department of the Environment and Local Government, and

(ii)Estimates for Public Services within the aegis of that Department,

(iii)proposals contained in any motion, including any motion within the meaning of Standing Order 149(A) concerning the approval by the Dáil of international agreements involving a charge on public funds, **

as shall be referred to it by Dáil Éireann from time to time.

(b)For the purpose of its consideration of Bills under paragraph (1)(a)(i), the Select Committee shall have the powers defined in Standing Order 78A(1), (2) and (3).

(c)For the avoidance of doubt, by virtue of his or her ex officio membership of the Select Committee in accordance with Standing Order 84(1), the Minister for the Environment and Local Government (or a Minister or Minister of State nominated in his or her stead) shall be entitled to vote.

(2) (a)The Select Committee shall be joined with a Select Committee to be appointed by Seanad Éireann to form the Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government to consider—

(i)such public affairs administered by the Department of the Environment and Local Government as it may select, including bodies under the aegis of that Department in respect of Government policy,

(ii)such matters of policy for which the Minister in charge of that Department is officially responsible as it may select,

(iii)the strategy statement laid before each House of the Oireachtas by the Minister in charge of that Department pursuant to section 5(2) of the Public Service Management Act, 1997, and shall be authorised for the purposes of section 10 of that Act, and

* (iv)such Annual Reports or Annual Reports and Accounts, required by law and laid before either or both Houses of the Oireachtas, of bodies under the aegis of the Department(s) specified in paragraph 2(a)(i), and the overall operational results, statements of strategy and corporate plans of these bodies, as it may select.

Provided that the Joint Committee shall not, at any time, consider any matter relating to such a body which is, which has been, or which is, at that time, proposed to be considered by the Committee of Public Accounts pursuant to the Orders of Reference of that Committee and/or the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act, 1993.

Provided further that the Joint Committee shall refrain from inquiring into in public session, or publishing confidential information regarding, any such matter if so requested either by the body or by the Minister in charge of that Department; and

(v)such other matters as may be jointly referred to it from time to time by both Houses of the Oireachtas, and shall report thereon to both Houses of the Oireachtas.

(b)The quorum of the Joint Committee shall be 5, of whom at least 1 shall be a member of Dáil Éireann and 1 a member of Seanad Éireann.

(c)The Joint Committee shall have the powers defined in Standing Order 78A(1) to (9) inclusive.

(3)The Chairman of the Joint Committee, who shall be a member of Dáil Éireann, shall also be Chairman of the Select Committee.

Seanad Éireann

19 November 1997

Ordered

(1) (a)That a Select Committee consisting of 5 members of Seanad Éireann shall be appointed to be joined with a Select Committee of Dáil Éireann to form the Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government to consider—

(i)such public affairs administered by the Department of the Environment and Local Government as it may select, including bodies under the aegis of that Department in respect of Government policy,

(ii)such matters of policy for which the Minister in charge of that Department is officially responsible as it may select,

(iii)the strategy statement laid before each House of the Oireachtas by the Minister in charge of that Department pursuant to section 5 (2) of the Public Service Management Act, 1997, and shall be authorised for the purposes of section 10 of that Act, and

(iv)such other matters as may be jointly referred to it from time to time by both Houses of the Oireachtas,

and shall report thereon to both Houses of the Oireachtas.

(b)The quorum of the Joint Committee shall be 5, of whom at least 1 shall be a member of Dáil Éireann and 1 a member of Seanad Éireann.

(c)The Joint Committee shall have the powers defined in Standing Order 62A(1) to (9) inclusive.

(2)The Chairman of the Joint Committee who shall be a member of Dáil Éireann.

•The Joint Committee considers its Orders of Reference to be appropriate and adequate and continues to monitor its role and procedures.

4. 2001 Work Programme Review

Progress of Work Programme

The Sub-Committee on Sustainable Development has completed its work. The Sub-Committee expects to report to the Joint Committee by 31^st March, 2002. Under item 2 of the 2001 Work Programme, the Sustainable Development issue can therefore be described as work in progress.

Item 4 (Planning)

This has been covered in the Joint Committee’s detailed consideration of the Draft Planning and Development Regulations 2001, during discussions with the Irish Planning Institute and with the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Mr. Noel Dempsey, T.D.

Item 6 - Local Government

The Joint Committee has noted Recommendation 97 (2001) on local democracy in Ireland prepared by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (see Appendix V) adopted on 31 May, 2001.

Item 7 (Roads)

This item has been covered in the Joint Committee’s discussion with officials from the National Roads Authority and is an ongoing area of interest of including in the light of the National Development Plan. The Joint Committee has noted the agreement reached following discussions with landowners relating to the purchase of land for roads development purposes.

The Joint Committee has asked for detailed proposals to be brought before the Committee by Mr. Robert Molloy, T.D. Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government arising from problems related to deregulation of the taxi industry. These are awaited.

Work Programme 2002

The Joint Committee adopted a work programme for 2002 as attached in Appendix IV.

________________________________

Jackie Healy-Rae T.D.

Chairman

March 2002

*Note: This Annual Report was adopted by the Joint Committee at its meeting on 27^th March 2002.

5. Meetings held

•The Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government met on 16 occasions in the period under report. The number of hours of discussion involved in these meetings was 24 hours.

•The Dáil Select Committee on Environment and Local Government met on 10 occasions in the year under report. The number of hours discussion involved in these meetings was in excess of 31 hours.

•The Sub-Committee on Sustainable Development met on 2 occasions in the period under report. The number of hours discussion involved in these meetings was 4 hours.

6. Presentation to the Joint Committee

The following groups/agencies made presentations to the Joint Committee:

The following groups/agencies made presentations to the Sub-Committee on Sustainable Development

7. Representation at meetings

•The Joint Committee was represented at the following meetings pursuant to its Orders of Reference

•Working meeting of the Committee responsible for Environmental issues in the Parliaments of Member States of the European Union and in the European Parliament, Stockholm, Sweden 10 – 11 May, 2001

•Parliamentary workshop on Sustainable Development Stockholm, Sweden, 11- 12 May, 2001.

Other Visit

Examination of Waste Management facilities, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 10 – 14 July, 2001.

8. Bills and Estimates

•The Dáil Select Committee considered the following Bills and Estimates

Bills

Declaration of Interest

During discussion on the Local Government Bill, 2000, Deputies Gilmore, Haughey, Mitchell and Ó Caoláin on section 141 declared an interest as the section related to the introduction of payment to local authority membership.

Estimates

Regulations

The Joint Committee considered the following Draft Regulations.

11 April, 2001 - Draft Regulations under the Planning and Development Act, 2000 Licensing of large scale outdoor events

The draft regulations introduced a new licensing regime for the control and proper management of large scale outdoor events.

Note: These regulations were replaced by the Regulations mentioned below:

APPENDIX I

MINUTES OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE

Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government

Minutes of Meeting of 22 November 2000

The Joint Committee met at 2.03 p.m.

Members Present: Deputies Jackie Healy-Rae (Chairman), Seán Haughey (vice-Chairman) Noel Ahern, Eamon Gilmore, Billy Kelleher, Tony Killeen, Séamus Kirk, Padraic McCormack, Nora Owen and Ivan Yates; and Senators Frank Chambers, and Dan Kiely.

Apologies for inability to attend were received from Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin.

Senator Fergal Quinn attended pursuant to Standing Order 74 (2) [Seanad]

1.Minutes of previous meeting

The minutes of the meeting of the Joint Committee on 8 November, 2000, were agreed to.

2.Discussions with An Bórd Pleanála regarding planning decisions on childcare facilities

The Chairman welcomed the following representatives from An Bórd Pleanála:

(i)Mr. John O’Connor, Chairman;

(ii)Dr. Ann Quinn, Deputy Chairman; and

(iii)Mr. Paul Mulally, Chief Officer.

Members put a number of questions to the representatives of the Board regarding (i) the manner in which appeals relating to childcare facilities are decided, (ii) the guidelines applicable to such appeals, (iii) the statistics available on decisions of the Board e.g. number of decisions of planning authorities which were upheld/overturned. Mr. O’Connor responded to these questions with Dr. Ann Quinn contributing.

The discussion of the specific issue of childcare facilities was followed by a discussion of the Board’s operations generally. A number of items including staffing levels of the Board and options in relation to recruitment were raised.

The discussion concluded at 3.20 p.m. and the visitors withdrew.

The Committee went into Private Session at 3.20 p.m.

3.Committee Travel

The Chairman advised the Committee that the attendance by a delegation of the Committee at a GLOBE Conference in the Hague on 20th November had, regrettably, been cancelled due to the unavailability of accommodation in the Hague.

4.Visit by delegation from the Scottish Parliament

The Committee had before it for consideration correspondence from Mr. Craig Harper of the Secretariat of the Scottish Parliament regarding a proposed visit to Dublin by a small delegation representing that Parliament’s Local Government Committee. It was agreed that the Joint Committee will meet on Tuesday, 30th January, 2001 at 2 p.m. to discuss matters relevant to both the delegation and the Committee.

5.Correspondence from the Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts to Deputy Killeen as Chairman of the Working Group of Committee Chairmen

The Committee considered a copy of a letter dated 14 November, to Deputy Killeen as Chairman of the Working Group of Committee Chairmen in which Committees were requested to suspend Meetings in the week commencing 27 November to facilitate the sub-Committee on certain Revenue matters. It was agreed that a letter issue to the Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts advising that the Select Committee on Environment and Local Government will meet on Tuesday, 28 November at 1.45 p.m and that any inconvenience caused by this Meeting is regretted.

6.Business and Date and Time of next Meeting.

It was agreed that the next Meeting of the Joint Committee will be held on Wednesday, 20 December, 2000 at 2 p.m. It was also agreed that the Committee will, on that day, consider (i) the draft Annual Report of the Committee, and (ii) a draft Report to the Committee on Procedure and Privileges regarding the role and procedures of the Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government.

The Committee adjourned at 3. 33 p.m.

___________________________

JACKIE HEALY-RAE,

Chairman of the Joint Committee.

Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government

Minutes of the Meeting of 20 December 2000

The Joint Committee met in PRIVATE SESSION at 2.04 p.m.

Members Present: Deputies Jackie Healy-Rae (Chairman), Noel Ahern, Jimmy Deenihan, Seán Doherty (in substitution for Seán Haughey), John Ellis (in substitution for Tony Killeen (for part of the Meeting)), Eamon Gilmore, Billy Kelleher, Tony Killeen, Séamus Kirk, Padraic McCormack and Seán Power; and Senators Frank Chambers, Fintan Coogan, Rory Kiely (in substitution for Dan Kiely) and Jim Walsh.

Apologies for inability to attend were received from Deputies Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, Ivan Yates and Nora Owen.

1.Minutes of previous meeting

The minutes of the meeting of the Joint Committee on 22 November, 2000, were agreed to.

2.Form and Content of Annual Report

It was agreed that the Annual Report of the Committee (for the period November, 1999 to November, 2000) be prepared on the basis of the previous Annual Report of the Committee and, accordingly, that such Annual Report shall comprise the following:

(i)Establishment and Membership.

(ii)Meetings Held.

(iii)Presentations to the Joint Committee.

(iv)Representation at International Fora

(v)Bills and Estimates considered by the Dáil Select Committee.

(vi)Orders of Reference.

(vi)2000 Work Programme Review.

Appendices to the Annual Report are to attach Minutes of Meetings of the Joint Committee and the Work Programme of the Joint Committee for 2000.

3.Report to the Committee on Procedure and Privileges

In accordance with Standing Orders the Committee considered its role and procedure generally and agreed that it had no recommendations to make to the Committee on Procedure and Privileges.

4.Work Programme of the Committee (2001) and consideration of correspondence received

(a)The Committee had before it for consideration an extract of the Work Programme of the Committee (2000) containing notes for information regarding items already considered and proposals for consideration (see Appendix A)

It was agreed that-

(i)items 7.3 and 7.4 remain in the Work Programme,

(ii)all items listed under paragraph 8 remain in the Work Programme,

(iii)item a.6.1 (Local Government Fund) be included in the Work Programme,

(iv)item a.7.4 (Accountability of the National Roads Authority) be included in the Work Programme.

(b)In addition, the Committee had before it for consideration correspondence from:-

(i)the Fermoy By-Pass Group (relevant to item 7.5 of the Work Programme); and it was agreed that the Group be advised that the Committee notes their request, that “Public Private Partnerships and Tolls” is listed for consideration in the Work Programme and when same is scheduled for consideration the Committee will then welcome the views of the Group,

and

(ii)Deputy Ó Caoláin requesting that an invitation issue to the Minister for the Environment and Local Government to attend a meeting of the Committee to discuss some of the issues raised at the Meeting of the Committee on 25 October, 2000, when the matter of Energy Efficiency in Construction was considered; it was agreed that the issue of such invitation be deferred pending discussions with The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland.

It was also agreed that the Committee will conclude its consideration of the Work Programme (2001) at the next Meeting of the Committee.

5.Appointment of Rapporteur

It was agreed that the Committee should avail of the system to appoint Rapporteur to assist it in considering items listed for consideration in the Work Programme. In addition, Members are to notify the Clerk to the Committee of items in the Work Programme in respect of which they wish to be appointed Rapporteur.

6.Sub-Committee on Sustainable Development

Senator Chambers (Chairman of the sub-Committee) advised the Committee of progress to date and sought an extension of the date for reporting to the Joint Committee. It was agreed that the sub-Committee should report to the Joint Committee not later than 31 March 2001.

7.Adjournment

The Committee adjourned at 2.20 p.m. until Wednesday, 17 January 2001 at 2 p.m.

______________________________

JACKIE HEALY-RAE, T.D.,

Chairman of the Joint Committee

Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government

Minutes of Meeting of 17 January, 2001

The Joint Committee met in PRIVATE SESSION at 2.08 p.m.

Members Present: Deputies Jackie Healy-Rae (Chairman), Eamon Gilmore, Tony Killeen, Padraic McCormack and Billy Timmins; and Senators Frank Chambers, Fintan Coogan, Dan Kiely and Jim Walsh.

Apologies for inability to attend were received from Deputies Jimmy Deenihan, Billy Kelleher, Séamus Kirk, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, Nora Owen and Ivan Yates.

Adjournment

The Committee adjourned at 2.35 p.m. until Tuesday 30th January, 2001 at 2.30 p.m.

__________________________

JACKIE HEALY-RAE, T.D.,

Chairman of the Joint Committee

JOINT COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Minutes of meeting of 14 February 2001

The Joint Committee met at 2.05 p.m. in Room G2, Kildare House.

1.Attendance

In attendance were Deputies Seán Haughey (in the Chair), Noel Ahern, Jimmy Deenihan, Eamon Gilmore, Billy Kelleher, Padraic McCormack, Seán Power, Billy Timmins.

In attendance also were Senators Frank Chambers, Dan Kiely, Jim Walsh

Apologies were received from Deputies Healy-Rae and Yates.

2.Private Session: Minutes

The minutes of 30 January 2001 were agreed.

3.Private Session: Correspondence

4.Private Session: Travel to Sweden

5.Public Session: Presentations by the Local Authority Members Association, (LAMA), the Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland, (AMAI), and the General Council of County Councils, (GCCC), on the Local Government Bill, 2000.

The following members attended from each organisation:

Mr. Lawlor, Mr. O’Brien and Mr. Nolan then made a presentation on the Local Government Bill, which was followed by a question and answer session with the members.

6.Adjournment

There being no other business the meeting was then adjourned at 3.53 p.m. until Wednesday, 28th February, 2001.

________________________

Jackie Healy-Rae

Chairman

JOINT COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Minutes of meeting of 28 February 2001

The Joint Committee met at 2.05 p.m. in Room G2, Kildare House.

Attendance:

In attendance were Deputies Jackie Healy-Rae (in the Chair), Eamon Gilmore, Billy Kelleher, Tony Killeen, Séamus Kirk, Nora Owen, Seán Power and Billy Timmins.

In attendance also were Senators Dan Kiely, Brendan Ryan and Jim Walsh

Apologies were received from Deputies Caoimhghín O’Caoláin, Ivan Yates and Senator Frank Chambers.

1.Private Session: Minutes

The minutes of the meeting of 14 February 2001 were proposed and agreed.

2.Private Session: Correspondence

Correspondence received from the Congress of Local and Regional authorities of Europe

3.In Public Session: Presentation by the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland on Radon Gas

The following members attended from the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland:

♦Dr. Tom O’Flaherty, Chief Executive

♦Dr. Ann Mc Garry, Principal Scientific Officer

♦Mr. David Pollard, Senior Scientific Officer

♦Mr. Hugh Synnott, Scientific Officer

♦Dr. Stephen Fennell, Scientific Officer

Dr. O’Flaherty and Dr. Mc Garry made presentations on Radon Gas which was followed by a question and answer session with Members.

4.Any other business and Date and Time of Next Meeting

The Chairman informed the Committee that Mr. Michael Tobin, Chief Executive of the NRA had indicated that a delegation would be available to attend the next meeting of the Committee on Wednesday, 14th March at 2 p.m. Following discussion it was agreed that the Committee would not meet on Wednesday, 14th March but would meet instead on Wednesday, 21st March at 2 p.m. and that the Secretariat would inquire as to Mr. Tobin’s availability to attend on that date.

5.Adjournment

There being no other business the meeting was adjourned at 3.30 p.m. until Wednesday, 21st March, 2001 at 2 p.m.

_______________

Jackie Healy-Rae

Chairman

Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government

Minutes of the Meeting of 28 March 2001

The Joint Committee met at 2.06 p.m. in PRIVATE SESSION in Committee Room 3, Leinster House 2000.

Attendance:

In attendance were Deputies Seán Haughey (in the Chair), Noel Ahern, Eamon Gilmore, Billy Kelleher, Tony Killeen, Seamus Kirk, Nora Owen, Sean Power.

In attendance also were Senators Dan Kiely and Pat Moylan.

Apologies were received from Deputies Jackie Healy-Rae and Ivan Yates and Senator Jim Walsh.

Adjournment

There being no other business the meeting was adjourned at 2.36 p.m. until Wednesday 4th April, 2001 at 2 p.m.

__________________

Jackie Healy-Rae T.D.

Chairman

April 2001

Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government

Minutes of the Meeting of 4 April 2001

The Joint Committee met at 2.10 p.m. in Room 4, Leinster House 2000.

Attendance:

In attendance were Deputies Jackie Healy-Rea (in the Chair), John Bruton (in substitution for Deirdre Clune), Michael D’Arcy, Sean Haughey, Eamon Gilmore, Tony Killeen, Jimmy Deenihan (in substitution for Padraic McCormack, Olivia Mitchell, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, Sean Power and Billy Timmins.

Also in attendance were Senators Frank Chambers and Dan Kiely.

Deputies Trevor Sargent and Emmet Stagg attended the meeting pursuant to Standing Order 84(3).

Apologies were received from Deputy Deirdre Clune.

2.Minutes

The minutes of the meeting of 28th March 2001 were proposed and agreed.

Arising from the minutes Deputy Killeen stated that he recalled that the Committee had agreed in relation to the forthcoming visit that the travel would be economy class. In response, the Chairman put the question that the members should travel economy class and the question was agreed.

3.Presentation by Mr. Michael Tobin, Chief Executive, National Roads Authority.

The Chairman welcomed Mr. Michael Tobin, Chief Executive, Mr. Eugene O’Connor, Head of Project Management and Engineering, Mr. Michael Egan, Head of Corporate Affairs, and Mr. Jerry Murphy, PPP Manager.

Before the presentation commenced the Chairman reminded the meeting that while members have absolute privilege, this same privilege does not to visitors. He then invited Mr. Tobin to commence the presentation and he advised that the presentation would be followed by a question and answer session with members.

At the commencement of the presentation copies of the “Review 2000 and Programme 2001 were circulated to each Member.

During the course of the presentation Mr. Tobin addressed the following matters:

♦The Policy agenda for the Authority over the next 6 years which was set by the Governments National Development Plan.

♦Priority to improve the five major inter-urban routes to motorway or high quality dual-carriageway standard.

♦Priority to improve other national primary and secondary routes.

♦Commitment of £4.7 billion over the six years (2000 - 2006)

♦Planning and design fast-tracked; Spend increased from £14.5 billion to £40 billion.

♦Cost moderation measures include improved contract documentation; adopting larger scale projects for tendering; Sourcing foreign tenders; increased use of design/construct contracts; use of standardised procurement procedures.

♦Public Private Partnerships are central to the Authority’s ability to deliver; £1 billion comes from private sources.

♦Road Safety is central to Authority’s programme. £14.5 million set aside for Road Safety measures in 2001

Following the presentation Members spoke on the following matters:

Compensation levels for landowners whose lands are compulsorily purchased; fixing compensation at agri-prices.

Safety on the M1 route and on Slane Bridge.

The feasibility of Tolling and the associated costs.

Speed limits; speed cameras.

Adoption of the developer pays principal in respect of damage to or protection of national heritage sites.

lighting and marking as safety measures.

Following discussions the Chairman thanked the delegation and adjourned the meeting.

Sine Die.

__________________

Jackie Healy-Rae T.D.

Chairman

April 2001

Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government

Minutes of the Meeting of 11 April 2001

The Joint Committee met at 2.06 p.m. on Wednesday 11 April 2001 in Room 2, LH 2000.

1.Attendance

In attendance were Deputies Jackie Healy-Rae (in the Chair) Johnny Brady ( in substitution for Sean Haughey), Michael D. Higgins (in substitution for Eamon Gilmore), Billy Kelleher, Tony Killeen, Padraic McCormack, Olivia Mitchell, Sean Power.

Also in attendance were Senators Frank Chambers, Fintan Coogan, Dan Kiely and Jim Walsh.

Mr. Noel Dempsey T.D., Minister for the Environment and Local Government was also in attendance.

Apologies were received from Deputies Eamon Gilmore.

2.Minutes

The minutes of the meeting of 4 April, 2001 were proposed and agreed.

3.Draft Regulations under the Planning and Development, Act, 2000

The Chairman welcomed Minister Dempsey to the Meeting.

The Minister indicated that the Regulations being introduced were to give effect to the provisions of paragraph XVI of the Planning and Development Act, 2000 and introduced a new licensing regime for the control and proper management of large scale outdoor events.

•These events are subject to the planning code. Difficulties had arisen relating to one-off events. Planning permission was not sufficiently flexible for local authorities to regulate safely.

•Events with an attendance of more than 5,000 would have to be licensed.

•Procedures in applying for a license involved a 4 week public consultation process and consultation with local State agencies.

•A local authority could grant a license with or without conditions.

•The fee for making an application for a license was £2,000 up to 1 January 2002 and £2,500 thereafter. The fee could be waived or reduced. No charge would be made for non-profit events.

•In the case of an event being held by a local authority a report must be made by the Manager for consideration by the elected members.

•The Regulations included transitional arrangements to enable events being planned for summer 2001 to be facilitated.

Following the Minister’s contributions, Members spoke on the following matters:

-Compensation to residents

-Arrangements to welcome all-Ireland winning teams home

-Street festivals

-Compensation to residents and others who had to cancel hotel bookings (weddings etc.)

-What additional costs should be met by promoters of events

The Committee concluded consideration of the draft regulations. The Clerk was asked to report accordingly to both Houses.

The Chairman thanked the Minister and his officials and presented those present with samples of totally degradable plastic carrier bags on behalf of Musgraves.

4.Adjournment

There being no further business the Committee adjourned Sine die.

___________________

Jackie Healy-Rae

Chairman

14 May 2001

JOINT COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Minutes of the Meeting of 25 July 2001

The Joint Committee met in PRIVATE SESSION at 2.07 p.m. in Committee Room 4, LH 2000.

Attendance: The following Members were present:

Deputies: D’Arcy Michael, Eamon Gilmore, Seán Haughey, Healy-Rae, Jackie (Chairman) Tony Killeen, Padraic McCormack,

Senators: Fintan Coogan and Jim Walsh.

Deputy Willie Farrell substituted for Deputy Frank Chambers

Apologies were received from: Deputy Deirdre Clune, Deputy Billy Kelleher, Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

Apologies were also received from: Senator Frank Chambers.

There being no further business the Committee adjourned at 2.32 pm sine die.

___________________

Jackie Healy-Rae TD

Chairman

Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government

Minutes of the Meeting of 7th November 2001

The Committee met in Committee Room 2 LH2000 on 7th Nov 2001 at 2.09p.m.

Attendance: The following Members were present:

Deputies: Healy-Rae, Jackie (Chairman), Eamon Gilmore, Noel Ahern, Deirdre Clune, Séan Haughey, Billy Kelleher, Tony Killeen, Padraic McCormack, Olivia Mitchell,

Deputy Michael D. Higgins was also in attendance.

Senators: Fintan Coogan and Dan Kiely.

Apologies were received from: Deputies: Ó Caoláin and Kirk.

Private Session:

The minutes of the meeting of the 10th Oct 2001 were agreed.

The Chairman welcomed Ms Cathy Darling, Ms Therese Beegan and Ms Rita Fernandez representatives of FAIR to the meeting. The representatives of FAIR made a presentation to the Committee on the problems ------------ by them arising from deregulation of the taxi industry. The representatives responded to questions asked by Members of the Committee.

The Committee agreed the following resolution:

“That this Committee inform the Minister for the Environment and Local Government of its meeting today with the delegation from FAIR and also ask the Minister to bring before the Committee his proposals to address the problems outlined by FAIR, within 1 month”.

Supplementary Estimate

The Committee was advised that it would be asked to consider a supplementary estimate for the Dept. of the Environment and Local Government. It was agreed to meet on Wednesday 28th Nov 2001 at 2.00p.m. for this purpose.

Any Other Business

There being no further business the Committee adjourned at 3.22p.m. until Wednesday 14th Nov 2001 at 2.00p.m.

___________________

Jackie Healy-Rae TD

Chairman

14th November 2001

Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government

Minutes of the Meeting of 14th November 2001

1.The Committee met at 2.07p.m. in Committee Room 4, LH2000 on Wednesday 14th November 2001.

2.Attendance

Deputies: Jackie Healy - Rae (in the Chair), Noel Ahern, Michael D’Arcy, Eamon Gilmore, Seán Haughey, Billy Kelleher, Tony Killeen, Seamus Kirk, Olivia Mitchell, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin and Seán Fleming (for Seán Power)

Senators: Frank Chambers, Fintan Coogan and Jim Walsh.

3.Draft Planning and Development Regulations, 2001

The Chairman welcomed Mr John Spain and Mr Philip Jones Council Member, Irish Planning Institute to the meeting. He thanked both witnesses for the submission forwarded to the Committee on the Draft Planning and Development Regulations 2001 and invited them to expand and clarify the contents of the submission. This was followed by questions from Members.

The Chairman thanked Mr Spain and Mr Jones for attending the meeting and for their assistance to the Members on the draft regulations.

It was agreed that the Committee would discuss the submission further at a meeting on Wednesday 21st November 2001 at 2.00p.m.

Adjournment

There being no further business the meeting concluded at 4.13 p.m.

______________________________

Jackie Healy - Rae TD

Chairman

21 November 2001

JOINT COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Minutes of the Meeting of Wednesday, 5 December 2001

1.The Joint Committee met in Room 2, LH 2000 at 2.02 p.m.

2.Attendance: The following Members were present:

Deputies: Jackie Healy-Rae (In the Chair), Noel Ahern, Deirdre Clune, Michael D’Arcy, Éamon Gilmore, Seán Haughey, Billy Kelleher, Tony Killeen, Padraic McCormack, and Caoimhghín O Caoláin.

Senators: Frank Chambers, Fintan Coogan and Dan Kiely.

Deputies Michael Collins and John Ellis attended pursuant to Standing Order 84(3) of Dáil Éireann.

Private Session

3.Minutes

The Minutes of the previous meeting of 21 November, 2001 were agreed.

Public Session

4.Presentation by Solid Fuel Industry Association

The Committee was addressed by a Delegation from the Solid Fuel Industry Association. Following their presentation there followed a question and answer session during which all Members present took part. The Delegation agreed to forward to the Committee a further written submission and deal with matters raised during the discussion.

There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 3.02 p.m. Sine Die.

___________________

Jackie Healy-Rae TD

Chairman

Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government

Minutes of Meeting of 13 December 2001

1.The Committee met in Committee Room 2, Leinster House 2000 at 10.20 a.m.

Attendance:

Deputies: Seán Haughey (in the chair), Noel Ahern, Deirdre Clune, Eamon Gilmore, Billy Kelleher, Tony Killeen, Olivia Mitchell and Caoimghín Ó Caoláin.

Senators: Frank Chambers and Dan Kiely.

Substitutes: Senator Liam Fitzgerald* (in substitution for part of the meeting for Senator Frank Chambers).

Also in Attendance: Mr Noel Dempsey, T.D. Minister for the Environment and Local Government.

The following Members were in attendance pursuant to Standing Orders:-

Deputies: Bernard Durkan, Sean Fleming and Sean Ryan.

3.Time Allocation:

It was agreed that Minister Dempsey and Deputies Mitchell and Gilmore would be allowed 15 minutes each to make their opening statements to be followed by questions and answers.

4.Consideration of the Planning and Development Regulations, 2001:

The Chairman indicated that the Joint Committee had been asked to give consideration to the draft Planning and Development Regulations, by both Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann and that the Committee must, not later than today, send a message in the manner prescribed under Standing Orders of both Houses.

The Chairman asked Minister Dempsey to give his opening statement. This was followed by the contributions from Deputies Olivia Mitchell and Eamon Gilmore.

The following Members participated in the subsequent questions and answers - Deputies Ó Caoláin, Clune, Fleming, Roche, Kelleher, Durkan and Ryan.

The main areas of concern to Members on the Regulations related to the health risks associated with mobile phone antennaes, planning fees for submissions by public representatives and excemption from planning permission for mobile phone antennaes.

The Minister responded to the questions raised by individual Members.

The meeting adjourned from 11.05 a.m. until 11.35 a.m. to enable Members to participate in a Dáil division.

Deputy Gilmore proposed that in reporting to the House on its consideration of these regulations, recommends to that the draft regulations be approved subject to the deletion of Regulation No. 168, that deals with the proposed charge, and subject to the deletion of Class 31 from Schedule 2, which deals with the telecommunications antennae.

This was seconded by Deputy Ó Caoláin.

The Chairman pointed out that Standing Orders did not allow for a division in a meeting of the Joint Committee and that the regulations must be considered in totality.

Deputy Gilmore conceded that while he accepted the Chairman’s ruling, he did not agree with it and that he would recommend to his party to vote against the regulations when put to the House on the following day.

The Chairman brought the discussion to a conclusion and invited the Minister to make concluding remarks.

The Minister thanked the Members for their input on the regulations. A number of amendments suggested by the Committee had been accepted.

The Chairman stated that the Clerk to the Committee would send the appropriate message to both Houses and thanked the Minister and Members for their input.

Deputy Ó Caolaín raised the matter of the closure of EPI plastic bag manufacturers, Doire Bheaga Contae Dún na nGall with the loss of 23 jobs. It was agreed to place the matter on the agenda for consideration with the Work Programme 2002.

The meeting adjourned at 1.58 p.m. Sine die.

_____________________

Chairman

February 2002

APPENDIX II

MINUTES OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Joint Committee on Environment & Local Government Sub-Committee on Sustainable Development

Minutes of the Meeting of 10th January, 2001

1.The sub-Committee met in Public Session at 10.12 a.m. in Room G5, Kildare House.

2.Attendance

Members present:

Deputies : Tony Killeen, Jimmy Deenihan, Seán Power, Seamus Kirk, Eamon Gilmore, John Ellis (in substitution for Deputy Seán Doherty for part of the meeting)

Senators : Frank Chambers (in the Chair) and Brendan Ryan.

3.Minutes of previous Meeting

The Minutes of the Meeting of 20th December, 2000 were agreed to.

4.Next Meeting of the sub-Committee

It was agreed that officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, together with representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, be invited to the next meeting of the sub-Committee to discuss the sustainable development aspect of the programme of culling/testing of cattle that has been initiated in response to the recent outbreak of B.S.E. It was further agreed that a letter issue to the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Mr. John Browne, T.D., (Wexford) advising him of (i) the issue of the invitations, and (ii) that the sub-Committee is interested in discussing only the sustainable development and environmental aspects of this programme with the invitees.

5.Departmental Sustainable Development Policy

(a)A presentation was made by Mr. Seán Ó Cofaigh, Assistant Secretary, of the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands. Also attending on behalf of the Department were Mr. Dave Fadden, Principal Officer; Mr. Alan Craig, Senior Inspector and Principal Officer; Mr. Philip Buckley, Ecologist. A question and answer session followed the presentation.

(b)A presentation was made by Ms. Margo Monaghan, Principal Officer of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Also attending on behalf of the Department were Mr. David Kelly, Environment Unit of Enterprise Ireland; Ms. Anne Pender, Administrative Officer. A question and answer session followed the presentation.

(c)A presentation was made by Mr. Tom Power, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Marine and Natural Resources and Ms. Sarah White, Assistant Secretary. Also attending were Mr. Dermot McAree, Chief Inspector of the Forest Service; Mr. John Keohane, Principal Officer. A question and answer session followed the presentation with all representatives of the Department contributing.

(d)A presentation was made by Mr. John Fearon, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Public Enterprise. Also attending on behalf of the Department were Mr. Tom Kennington, Principal Officer and Mr. Liam Daly, Principal Officer. A question and answer session followed the presentation with Mr. Kennington also contributing.

6.Adjournment

The sub-Committee adjourned at 2.20 p.m. until 24 January, 2001 at 12 noon.

_________________________

Senator Frank Chambers

Chairman of the sub-Committee

Joint Committee on Environment & Local Government Sub-Committee on Sustainable Development

Minutes of the Meeting of 24th January, 2001

1.The sub-Committee met in Public Session at 12.05 p.m. in Room G2, Kildare House.

2.Attendance

3.Minutes of previous Meeting

The Minutes of the Meeting of 10 January, 2000 were agreed to.

4.Departmental Sustainable Development Policy

(a)A presentation was made by Mr. Tom Moran, Assistant Secretary, of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development. Also attending on behalf of the Department were Mr. Séamus Healy, Assistant Secretary; Mr Albert Costolloe, Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer; Mr. Kevin Smyth, Assistant Principal Officer. A question and answer session followed the presentation with Mr. Costolloe also contributing.

(b)A presentation was made by Mr. Iain Maclean of the Environmental Protection Agency. Also attending on behalf of the Agency was Dr. Gerry Byrne. A question and answer session followed the presentatation with Dr. Byrne also contributing

5.Private Session

The Committee went into Private Session at 1.22 p.m.

6.Adjournment

The sub-Committee adjourned at 1.24 p.m., sine die.

____________________________

Senator Frank Chambers

Chairman of the sub-Committee

APPENDIX III

ATTENDANCE CHARTS

Meetings of the Joint Committee

* Indicates Member was represented by a substitute

A Indicates Member has given apologies for being unable to attend

♦Deputy Eamon Gilmore was appointed in place of Deputy Brendan Howlin on 24th February, 1999.

♦Senator Fintan Coogan was appointed in place of Senator Joe Doyle on 30th March, 2000.

♦Deputy Séamus Kirk was appointed in place of Deputy Eoin Ryan on 11 April, 2000.

♦Deputy Ivan Yates was appointed in place of Deputy Deirdre Clune on 29 June, 2000.

♦Deputy Billy Timmins was appointed in place of Deputy Alan Dukes on 29 June, 2000.

♦Deputy Nora Owen was appointed in place of Deputy Brian Hayes on 29 June, 2000.

♦Deputy Jimmy Deenihan was appointed in place of Deputy Olivia Mitchell on 29 June, 2000.

♦Deputy Michael D’Arcy was appointed in place of Deputy Jimmy Deenihan on 29 March, 2001

♦Deputy Deirdre Clune was appointed in place of Deputy Nora Owen on 29 March, 2001

♦Deputy Olivia Mitchell was appointed in place of Deputy Ivan Yates on 29 March, 2001

Meetings of the Joint Committee

* Indicates Member was represented by a substitute.

Deputies highlighted are not

A ndicates Member has given apologies for being unable to attend.

Members of the Joint Committee.

♦Deputy Eamon Gilmore was appointed in place of Deputy Brendan Howlin on 24th February, 1999.

♦Senator Fintan Coogan was appointed in place of Senator Joe Doyle on 30th March, 2000.

♦Deputy Séamus Kirk was appointed in place of Deputy Eoin Ryan on 11 April, 2000.

♦Deputy Ivan Yates was appointed in place of Deputy Deirdre Clune on 29 June, 2000.

♦Deputy Billy Timmins was appointed in place of Deputy Alan Dukes on 29 June, 2000.

♦Deputy Nora Owen was appointed in place of Deputy Brian Hayes on 29 June, 2000.

♦Deputy Jimmy Deenihan was appointed in place of Deputy Olivia Mitchell on 29 June, 2000.

♦Deputy Michael D’Arcy was appointed in place of Deputy Jimmy Deenihan on 29 March, 2001

♦Deputy Deirdre Clune was appointed in place of Deputy Nora Owen on 29 March, 2001

♦Deputy Olivia Mitchell was appointed in place of Deputy Ivan Yates on 29 March, 2001

Meetings of the Select Committee

* Indicates Member was represented by a substitute.

Deputies highlighted are not

A Indicates Member has given apologies for being unable to attend.

Members of the Joint Committee.

♦Deputy Eamon Gilmore was appointed in place of Deputy Brendan Howlin on 24th February, 1999.

♦Senator Fintan Coogan was appointed in place of Senator Joe Doyle on 30th March, 2000.

♦Deputy Séamus Kirk was appointed in place of Deputy Eoin Ryan on 11 April, 2000.

♦Deputy Ivan Yates was appointed in place of Deputy Deirdre Clune on 29 June, 2000.

♦Deputy Billy Timmins was appointed in place of Deputy Alan Dukes on 29 June, 2000.

♦Deputy Nora Owen was appointed in place of Deputy Brian Hayes on 29 June, 2000.

♦Deputy Jimmy Deenihan was appointed in place of Deputy Olivia Mitchell on 29 June, 2000.

♦Deputy Michael D’Arcy was appointed in place of Deputy Jimmy Deenihan on 29 March, 2001

♦Deputy Deirdre Clune was appointed in place of Deputy Nora Owen on 29 March, 2001

♦Deputy Olivia Mitchell was appointed in place of Deputy Ivan Yates on 29 March, 2001

Meetings of the Sub-Committee on Sustainable Development

* Indicates Member was represented by a substitute.

♦Deputy Eamon Gilmore was appointed in place of Deputy Brendan Howlin - 24 February, 1999.

♦Deputy Séamus Kirk was appointed in place of Deputy Eoin Ryan - 11 April, 2000.

♦Deputy Jimmy Deenihan was appointed in place of Deputy Olivia Mitchell - 29 June, 2000.

APPENDIX IV

WORK PROGRAMME FOR 2002

Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government

Year 2002 - Work Programme

Items for consideration by Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government

1.Meeting with Departmental Officials on formerly Rent Controlled Dwellings.

2.Meeting with Mr. Noel Dempsey, T.D., Minister for the Environment and Local Government on:

a)Financing of Local Government.

b)National Development Plan.

c)Better Local Government.

d)Effects of employment in small rural areas arising from the introduction of the plastic bag levy.

3.Meeting with Chief Exective and officials of National Roads Authority and of Construction Industry Federation on concerns relating to Roads Funding.

4.Meeting with Chairman and officals of An Bord Pleanála.

APPENDIX V

Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe

A:- Recommendation 97 on local democracy in Ireland

The Congress, bearing in mind the proposal of the Chamber of Local Authorities,

1.Recalling:

a)its Resolution 31 (1996) on the guiding principles for the action of the Congress when preparing reports on local and regional democracy in member States and applicant States;

b)in particular, paragraph 11 of this Resolution, in which the Congress requests that over a reasonable period of time all member States be the subject of a detailed report on local and regional democracy;

c)that, on the basis of the above-mentioned paragraph, it has already prepared several reports on local and regional democracy in various Council of Europe members States (Romania (1995), Italy, Turkey, the Russian Federation (1997), Albania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Moldova, the United Kingdom, Ukraine (1998), Germany, the “former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, Finland, the Netherlands, San Marino (1999), Estonia, Czech Republic, France (2000);

d)that the new Statutory Resolution of the Congress adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 15th March 2000 provides in its article 2.3 that the Congress shall prepare on a regular basis country-by-country reports on the situation of local and regional democracy in all member States and in States which have applied to join the Council of Europe, and shall ensure, in particular, that the principles of the European Charter of Local self-government are implemented;

2.Considering the willingness of the Irish government and parliamentarian authorities to pursue the political debate on local government in Ireland, with a view to improving the legislative basis and conditions for the exercise of local authority, and wishing to contribute to this debate in a constructive manner;

3.Having taken note of the report on local democracy in Ireland drawn up by Mr. Louis Roppe (Belgium, L) rapporteur, Chairman of the Institutional Committee of the Chamber of Local Authorities, following two official visits by the rapporteur in January and March 2001, including visits to Dublin, Galway, Carlow and Maynooth;

4.Wishes to express its gratitude to all representatives of the Irish national (government and parliament) and local authorities, associations of local authorities, academics, journalists and representatives of non governmental organisations who agreed to meet the rapporteur during the above visits for their interest in the Congress’ activities and their extreme helpfulness in the preparation of the report;

5.Notes that the principal units of local government in Ireland today are the 29 counties and the 5 cities. In all, there are five different legal classes of local authorities. Apart from the County Councils and City Councils there are also 5 Borough Corporations, 49 Urban District Councils and 26 Town Commissioners, which makes a total of 114 local authorities. The three latter classes are all town local authorities;

6.Notes that the reform process initiated at the beginning of the 1990s represented a break with the highly centralised tradition of the Irish State whose success depends to a considerable degree on the gradual implementation of a number of major fundamental principles of local democracy, particularly with regard to powers, finance, participation of public and state supervision as well as involvement of local councillors and their willingness to fully play a political role at local level;

7.Notes in this context that the rigorous ultra vires doctrine applied in Ireland to local government until 1991 has been restricted and the state control over local government was reduced in 1994;

8.Welcomes the fact that the European Charter of Local Self-Government has influenced local government reform programme in the 1990s;

9.Notes that in 1996 the government decided that Ireland should sign and ratify the Charter as soon as the necessary formalities are completed;

10.Welcomes the fact that Ireland signed the European Charter of Local Self-Government in 1997;

11.Notes that the current Minister for the Environment and Local Government is committed to undertaking the necessary steps with a view of ratifying the Charter as soon as new Local Government Bill, 2000 is adopted by the Parliament. The Congress considers that this step would represent a clear expression of a commitment to the renewal of local government in Ireland;

12.Considers, however, that it is desirable that the Charter be ratified by Ireland as soon as possible;

13.Welcomes the amendments made to the Irish Constitution by national referendum in 1999 to include for the first time ever a provision on local government (Article 28A) which can be seen as a cornerstone of modernisation of Irish local government and constitutional recognition of a major political role of local government as a part of democratic structure of Irish State;

14.Welcomes the fact that Article 28A stipulates that there shall be directly elected local authorities and local elections held at least every five years;

15.Welcomes the recent introduction of the draft Local Government Bill, 2000 (hereafter: Local Government Bill, 2000 or Bill, 2000) by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government to the Parliament which has marked the achievement of some years of debate over the future of local government in Ireland. The Bill will undoubtedly, if adopted, be the cornerstone of the new Irish government system;

16.Deems it necessary to submit the following observations and recommendations to the Irish government and parliamentarian authorities:

a.With regard to functions of local authorities:

i)notes that local government in Ireland is responsible for physical planning, housing and building, road transportation and safety, water supply and sewerage, development incentives and controls, environmental protection and recreation and amenities, but in contrast to many other European countries, have only minor involvement in education, health and public transport and no statutory input to policing matters;

ii)believes that limiting local authorities to matters which do not have wide implications for local community would risk relegating them to a marginal role in the long run. Considers in this respect, that local government can better match local preferences which are economically more efficient than providing a standard, centralised level of services which takes no account of local variations in preferences;

iii)understands that in a peculiar Irish context of economic and social changes, the process of granting local authorities new wider functions should be seen as a realistic, gradual and a medium process;

iv)notes at the same time that the current government is committed to transferring more functions to local government at a progressive pace in order to enhance local authorities political role. The Congress encourages this idea and considers that the success of granting local government gradually new powers will depend to a large extent on simultaneous transfer of financial means available to these authorities;

v)welcomes the fact that the new Bill, 2000 allows a local authority to enter into agreement with another local authority, or other public body, to carry out functions on behalf of that body;

vi)welcomes the fact that the new Bill, 2000 provides powers for a local authority to take action to promote the interests of the local community in such manner as they consider appropriate.

b.With regard to local finance:

i)observes that the transfer of the liability for domestic rates to the Exchequer in 1978, coupled with the “capping” of non-domestic rates in subsequent years, led to a highly centralised system of financing of local government. Notes that although since 1978 local government has been increasingly financed by local sources, the current system may be regarded as allowing limited discretion to local authorities to determine local service levels and related expenditure levels;

ii)moreover, notes that funds available to local government through various programmes involved the creation in the early 1990s of an almost parallel system of local non-elected development bodies bypassing local democratically elected Councils and dealing in particular with issues such as rural development and social matters which could also be performed by local authorities;

iii)observes that at the present local government is still to a large degree dependent on state financing. For the time being, the only discretionary local funding sources are rates on commercial premises and a miscellany of charges for services;

ivinvites the Irish authorities to further consider, in the framework of current reforms, granting local authorities own taxation revenue so that a substantial proportion of local resources can be derive from it.

c.With regard to local elected Councils:

i)notes that vacancies during the term of election are filled by the Council itself by co-option. Observes that in the Local Government Bill, 2000 there are provisions that the political party of the former Councillor shall nominate the new one;

ii)considers that it could be argued that co-option is not fully in line with Article 3, paragraph 2 of the Charter. It could be questioned whether co-option is a democratic way of filling vacancies in an elected body;

iii)invites the Irish authorities to study whether in future a system of elected replacements could be introduced.

d.With regard to the Cathaoirleach’s (Chairpersons/Mayor’s) role:

j)notes that currently the Cathaoirleach (Chairperson/Mayor) of a local authority is elected on an annual basis by the members of the Council and performs a representational role rather than executive one like in may other European countries;

ii)observes that in the Local Government Bill, 2000, it has been proposed that County Council and City Council Chairperson/Mayor shall be elected by the electors by direct election as from 2004. These measures seem principally to be intended as a means of increasing the interest of the general public in local government and as a counter balance to the Manager;

iii)considers that it makes little sense to elect directly a Cathaoirleach (Chairperson/Mayor) if the latter is not empowered to perform executive powers on behalf of a local authority and considers that if a stronger role of directly elected Chairperson/Mayor is not developed after a certain period, this could cause problems with regard to his relationship with the Council and the Manager;

iv)invites the Irish authorities in the years to come, if this provision is adopted by the Parliament, to consider giving the directly elected Cathaoirleach (Chairperson/Mayor) executive powers in order to further strengthen elected members political and policy making role and their involvement in local affairs;

v)agrees that this gradual devolution of executive powers need to be put on probation in the framework of Corporate Policy Groups scheme and hopes that this process could be achieved soon;

vi)considers, however, that in the meanwhile, if the Cathaoirleach’s (Chairperson/Mayor’s) executive powers are not specified soon, there can be problems in relationship to the other Council members if the Chairperson does not have a majority in the Council as well as in relation to the manager who is currently in charge with the administration.

e.With regard to provisions on remuneration and leave of elected representatives:

i)notes that, so far, with little exception, elected members of local government have had no satisfactory remuneration for their work for local authority and almost all are part-time members;

ii)therefore, considers that so far elected members have not benefited from appropriate financial compensation for their work which is not in conformity with Article 7, paragraph 2, of the Charter;

iii)notes however, that these problems are addressed under a new Local Government Bill;

iv)observes at the same time that members of the national Parliament holding simultaneous local and national offices (which is quite usual in Irish context) and having salary and office resources with the Parliament can devote a significant part of their time to work in local issues. This situation is unfair to those local elected members who do not benefit from national Parliament resources that would allow them to focus more on local issues;

v)notes that many of local Councillors spend an important part of their time on local authority business on top of their normal profession;

vi)moreover, notes that there are no rules on leave from work for elected members especially for those working in the private sector with the exception of some provisions for councillors working in semi-state companies or the teaching profession. Consequently, considers that together with an unsatisfactory remuneration the lack of rules on leave could lead to a shuffled membership of councils where the true balance between all genders of population is not reflected and categories such as youth, wage-earners and women are under represented;

v)observes at the same time that there is a limited participation by women (16% of all elected members), young people and age-earners in local government policy making in Ireland today;

viii)herefore, invites the Irishauthorities to further consider promoting participation of all ages, genders and social profiles of the Irish population in the local government.

f.With regard to dual mandate:

i)notes that in Ireland there is a strong tradition that many Members of the national Parliament also perform functions as elected members of local government. Notes that today, 48% of the members of the Lower House and 63% of the Senators are members of a local Council;

ii)notes that the new Bill, 2000 intends to eliminate the dual mandate entirely from the next local elections in 2004 and that the holding of simultaneous membership of town and county local authorities, which is not infrequent, is not affected by the new Bill;

iii)has been receptive to comments made by various interlocutors, who question the practice of simultaneous holding of office by national and local elected representatives;

iv)moreover, recalls that the Article 11of the European code of conduct for the political integrity of local and regional elected representatives sets forth the applicable principles as regards restrictions on concurrently holding two or more mandates. It is considered by the Congress that the situations where a dual mandate affects a mandate holder’s availability, where it leads to a conflict of interests and where they are prevented from performing their functions as elected representatives must be avoided;

v)is of the opinion, therefore, that it is appropriate to restrict the practice of simultaneous office holding in order to valorise the role of local elected representatives who assume their political responsibility only at local level.

g.With regard to relationship local elected Council - Manager:

i)notes that in the Irish local government the County/City Manager plays an important role as Head of Administration and generally entrusted with the “executive functions” of the County/City Council. The Manager post is not an elected office and the Council’s influence on the appointment is limited;

ii)notes that so far Managers and local Councils have been working in close co-operation and no case of a conflict between them has been recorded;

iii)notes that the elected Council’s functions are the so-called “reserved functions”, which are specified in statute law. All other functions - “executive functions” - are performed by the Manager. Important policy decisions are made by the elected Council and the executive operates within these policy parameters and subject to oversight and direction by the Council. Reserved functions include the annual budget, adopting the land-use development plan and borrowing money and a number of other important decisions;

iv)notes, however, that under new Local Government Bill, 2000, a Manager cannot be removed without the sanction of the Minister for Environment and Local Government;

v)notes that there is no executive committee of the Council or the like provided for in Irish local government law, as operates in some countries and expects, in this respect, that newly established Corporate Policy Groups will play this political role, thus, giving gradually directly elected Mayor and Chairs of the Strategic Policy Committees more executive powers.

h.With regard to Strategic Policy Committees and Corporate Policy Groups:

i)welcomes the fact that the aim of Strategic Policy Committees (SPC) is mainly to develop the neglected policy making role of elected members and to involve local sectoral and community representatives in local policy making;

vi)notes that they consist of elected members (two-thirds) and sectoral (one-third) representatives;

vii)notes that in a new system of local government SPC’s Chairs (elected members) together with the Chairpersons of the council, make up the Corporate Policy Group (CPG) which is designed to be a sort of cabinet of local authority to deal with financial and other cross cutting issues;

viii)is of the opinion that the political executive body elected by the whole population might be more inclined to take hard political decisions which is probably difficult to do in the present context;

ix)understands that at this stage, it is clear that SPCs will need time to develop their full potential and welcomes the Irish authorities’ willingness to gradually give CPGs a more executive role in managing local affairs. If this process is completed in the years to come, one will be able to speak about a radical change in local authority structures and central role of elected representatives with regard to local management;

x)however, points out that without active participation of elected members there could be a risk that SPCs in reality will take over the decision-making from the Council. This can lead to a situation where the democratically elected members of the Council find that the real decisions are taken by the interests groups;

xi)notes that for the time being, this seems not to be the case. On the contrary, SPCs provide a platform where local initiatives can be discussed in an open way and encourages the Irish authorities to continue this process.

i.With regard to the role of central government:

ii)considers that the central government still plays an important role for local government and that the Minister of the Environment and Local Government has important regulatory powers, even in the new Local Government Bill, 2000;

iii)notes that the Bill, 2000 empowers the Minister to regulate numerous matters such as sec. 44 (gender balance in committees), sec. 48 (Strategic Policy Committees), sec. 133 (corporate plan), sec. 168 (code of conduct);

iv)it is doubtful whether the prolific use of regulations is in harmony with the spirit of the Charter (Article 4, paragraph 2 and Article 8, paragraph 2) even though such regulations constitute secondary legislation, they must go before Parliament and are subjected to review by the courts.

j)With regard to regional authorities:

i)welcomes the fact that in 1994, eight regional authorities were established with a specific mandate to promote co-ordination of public services at the regional level, and to monitor and advise on the implementation of European Union funding in the regions;

i)notes that in 1999, two new larger regional authorities, known as Regional Assemblies were established with an enhanced role as regards EU programmes. They are the Border, Midland and Western Regional Assembly, and the Southern and Eastern Regional Assembly;

ii)notes that the regional authorities, to some extent, have surpassed the expectations given their weak basis and have had an impact at local level. They are involved in the decision-making process and perform basically advisory functions aimed at putting together regional development plans as a part of wider national plans;

iii)regrets however, that the legislative foundation of the regional authorities remains rather weak as well as their functions, compared with regions in other European countries with a strong regional tradition;

iv)believes that regional authorities have a broad potential and are able to fulfil strategic, economic and sustainable development functions which are an essential part of subsidiarity;

v)considers that although unlike in other countries, the regions do not seem to have any historical basis or public sentiment in the Irish context, their potential could be used in response to the need to find solutions to problems arising either at central or at local level (for instance in the fields such as waste management, economic and social development plans, rural development, environment etc).

k)With regard to the European Charter of Local Self-government (ETS N^o 122):

i)notes that there is no obstacle to ratification of the Charter;

ii)urges the Irish authorities to undertake as soon as possible all necessary steps with a view to ratifying the Charter.

1.Urges the Irish authorities to sign and ratify other Council of Europe’s conventions which have an impact on local government:

i)Additional Protocol to the European Outline Convention on transfrontier co-operation Between territorial communities or authorities (ETS N^o 159);

ii)Protocol N^o2 to the European Outline Convention on transfrontier co-operation between territorial communities or authorities (ETS N^o 169);

iii)Convention on the participation of foreigners in public life at local level (ETS N^o144);

iv)European Landscape Convention (ETS N^o 176);

m.Urges the Irish authorities to consider the following texts prepared by the CLRAE when reforming local government:

i)European Urban Charter;

ii)European Code of Conduct for the Political Integrity of Local and Regional Elected Representatives (Recommendation 60 (1999));

n.With regard to the principle of subsidiarity:

Calls upon the Irish Parliament to explicitly accept and recognise the principle of subsidiarity when discussing and adopting the new Bill, 2000. This step would be a great opportunity for Ireland to bring its legislation further into line with the European Charter of Local Self-government.

Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe

B:- Report on Local Democracy in Ireland

1. Introductory Remarks

In resolution 31 (1996), the Congress made it clear that, over a reasonable period of time, all member states would be the subject of a report on local and regional democracy. Furthermore, Article 2.3 of the Statutory Resolution of the Congress adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 15 March 2000 provides that the Congress shall prepare on a regular basis country-by-county reports on the situation of local and regional democracy in all member States and shall ensure that the principles of the European Charter of Local Self-government are implemented.

The newly established Institutional Committee identified Ireland as one of the countries which should be subject of a report on local democracy. This proposal was approved by the Bureau of the Congress on 7 November 2000. The Bureau appointed Mr Louis ROPPE (Belguim), President of the Institutional Committee of the Chamber of the Local Authorities, Chairman of the Flemish Association of Municipalities, as Rapporteur of Ireland. The consultant for the rapporteur was Mr Torsten BJERKEN, Senior Lecturer in Law at the Department of Social Sciences of _rebro University and member of the Committee of independent experts on the European Charter of Local Self-government. The rapporteur wishes to express his thanks to Mr BJERKEN for his assistance in the preparation of this report.

The rapporteur has received a mass of documentation with regard to local government in Ireland from many interlocutors and visited this country on the following two occasions:

-Dublin, from 29 to 31 January 2001 and

-Galway, Carlow, Maynooth and Dublin from 3 to 7 March 2001

A programme of the visits and the persons met appears under Appendix I. The rapporteur would like to express this thanks to the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Mr Noel DEMPSEY, and the high-ranking officials in the Ministry. Particular thanks also go to the General Council of the County Councils, its President, Councillor Enda NOLAN, and the Director, Mr Lima KENNY who largely facilitated the rapporteur’s task.

The major aim of this report is to provide direct knowledge on the actual functioning of local government in Ireland from a comparative perspective and to comment on a comprehensive reform of local public institutions which is currently underway in Ireland. The rapporteur hope that an outside balanced view on local democracy in Ireland will help Irish society to move towards genuine local democracy at the time when the Parliament is examining a new Local Government Bill 2000.

The report is arranged as follows. In section 2 the current system of local government in Ireland is presented. A brief presentation of the reforms and discussions in the 1990s is also made. The comprehensive reform bill that has been introduced in parliament this year, is briefly addressed in Section 2.14. Certain issues of special interest in the present context are discussed in Section 3. Some aspects of local government in relation to the European Charter of Local Self-government are summed up in Section 5.

2. LOCALSELF-GOVERNMENT ON PROGRESS

2.1 The present system

2.1.1 Historical Background

In Ireland modern local self-government was introduced a hundred years ago by the local Government (Ireland) Act of 1898. Part of the act is still in force and together with a number of other mostly more recent acts it forms the legal basis of Irish local government. The 1898 Act was adopted by the British parliament at a time when Ireland was part of a United Kingdom. It was based on the common-law traditions of local government. In principle IrelanD’s independence did not change the basic features of local government. Although Ireland, unlike the United Kingdom, has a written Constitution, local government followed until recently the British approach and had a statutory (that is based on Acts of Parliament) rather that a constitutional basis) that is based on a written constitution) (see Section 2.1.3). The same ultra vires rule applied to Irish local government as it does to British local government: the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament) defines the areas of competence of local government that did not possess a general competence (see Section 2.1.2). A new system of administration of county and city local government with a manager as Head of Administration with origins in the US city management systems, was fully operational in 1942. In the last ten years, modernisation of local government has been an ongoing process. To comment on the ongoing modernisation is an important objective of the present report.

2.1.2 Reforms and reform discussion in the 1990s

After decades of a weak local government exercising few functions, with limited financial resources and subordinated to a large extent to the central government, in the 1990s a number of reforms were introduced and there has been a lively discussion about local government. It is important to mention in this context that the rigorous ultra vires doctrines has bee restricted in 1991. The state control over local government was reduced in 1994. The third step towards more local autonomy was the constitutional referendum held in 1999 (see Section 2.1.3). It seems that the reforms have been cautious and footed on the existing system. In the late 1990s, a concept of Strategic Policy Committees (SPC), Corporate Policy Groups (CPG) and the County Development Boards (CDB) was introduced. They are intended to strengthen and coordinate strategic planning and enhance the role of the elected councillor, while working in close partnership with the local community and state agencies (see Section 3.8). Among important official programme documents can be mentioned “Better Local Government A Programme for Change” (1996), “Task Force on Integration of Local Government and Local Development Systems: Report” (1998) and “Modernising Government. The Challenge for Local Government”(March 2000). After ample preparations a comprehensive Local Government Bill was introduced in Parliament in 2000 (Bill No. 23 of 2000) (see Section 2.1.4).

Some of these comprehensive changes in local government were proposed in 1996 when the then government published a white paper document “Better Local Government. A programme for change”. This programme was mainly designed to:

-enhance local democracy by ensuring in particular that the role of Councillors in running local councils is strengthened;

-bring more openness and transparency in decision-making in local authorities;

-develop efficiency of local authorities through development of partnerships between central and local authorities, and between local authorities and other local organisations;

-provide proper resources for local government in particular through the introduction of a source of revenue with in-built buoyancy and a measure of local discretion.

This programme was designed as a long-term one and set out a framework of specific actions by the government. The main objective of this programme was clearly to move progressively towards a renewal of local government.

It was felt that the changes were needed as the Irish government noted that while the law envisaged elected members exercising the policy-making role, the structure and powers of local government had made it difficult for Councillors to fulfil this function, other than by the formal adoption of policy documents prepared by management. The Programme tries to set up a framework for a greater involvement of local Councillors in developing policy initiatives and in the strategic monitoring of local authority operations. It is obvious that the success of this policy will eventually depend on the range of powers available to the local elected representatives; their take up of the opportunities and new roles being presented and the financial means foreseen to achieve this goal.

The current Minister for Environment and Local Government, Mr Noel Dempsey, is committed to taking steps aimed to enhance the role of Councillors in setting up policy for local services and in giving them leadership to socio-economic development at local level in concert with social partners.

2.1.3 Constitutional provision on local government and legal framework

Until 1999, there was no constitutional provision on localgovernment in the Irish Constitution although Ireland has always had a written constitution unlike in the United Kingdom.

The amendments made to Irish Constitution by national referendum in 1999 to include provisions on local self-government (Article 28A) can be seen as a cornerstone of modernisation of Irish local government. The five paragraphs of the article stipulate that there shall be directly elected local authorities. All citizens who have the right to vote in a parliament election and such other persons that may be determined by law shall have the right to vote. Elections must be held at least every five years. This will put an end to the practice of elections being cancelled or postponed for political reasons as was the case in the past. Local government is said to provide “a forum for the democratic representation of local communities, in exercising and performing at local level powers and functions conferred by law and in promoting by its initiatives the interests of such communities.” Like similar constitutional provisions in other European countries, the Irish constitution is not specific concerning local government’s powers and functions. However, IrelanD’s constitutional provisions seen to be in line with the European Charter of Local Self-government (hereafter: the Charter).

Besides constitutional provisions, the principal enactments under the different classes of local authorities operate today are as follows: Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act, 1840; Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act, 1854; Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878; Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898; Local Governments Acts, 1925-1997 as well as a number of acts which apply to individual city local authorities only.

The recent introductions of the draft Local Government Bill 2000 by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government to the parliament has marked the achievement of some years of debate over the future of local government in Ireland (the main features of the draft Bill are considered in Section 2.1.4 below). The Bill will, if adopted, be the cornerstone of the new Irish local government system.

2.1.4 The Draft Local Government Bill 2000 (hereafter: Bill 2000 or Bill)

Bill 2000 follows the lines of the Programme ”Better Local Government. A programme for change”. The draft Bill is designed to consolidate, modernise and simplify the current legislation which is scattered over a wide range of enactments (see Section 2.1.3 above). Consultation on the draft was conducted by the Department of the Environment and Local Government and the Congress delegation took note of the comments made by local Councillors during a seminar of 6^th July 2000 in Tralee.

Among its guiding principles the draft Bill reiterates the government’s commitment to enhancing the role of the elected members and to underpin generally the programme of local government renewal.

The main proposals put forward in the Bill may be summarised as follows:

The new Bill sets up new mechanisms and structures to ensure that elected members play fully their role of people’s representatives (local policy determined by elected council, manager will operate within policy framework, larger involvement of local interests in the policy-making process, wider powers to oversee executive with a key role for the Corporate Policy Group). It is proposed to elect directly Cathaoirleach/Mayors in order to enhance the democratic legitimacy of local politicians and to limit dual mandates to underline the distinctive and separate political nature of local government and to help local Councillors to focus on local issues. In the past, the public did not have an automatic right to attend meetings and were admitted only by favour of the Council. The Bill reverses the situation as it is proposed to grant the public and media the right to access to local authority meetings.

Another measure aimed at enhancing the role of local elected representatives is that the Bill is the first law to underpin the payment of remuneration and pensions for Councillors. However, detail on likely amounts will be set out in Regulations to be made by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government with the consent of the Minister for Finance.

2.1.5 Local government authorities

The principal units of local government in Ireland today are the 29 counties and the 5 cities. The local government authority of a county is the County Council and of a city the County Borough Corporation. They are usually referred to as County Councils and City Councils. Some towns within the county have their own local authority for the town area. In all, there are five different legal classes of local authorities. Apart from the County Councils and the City Councils there are also 5 Borough Corporations, 49 Urban District Councils and 26 Town Commissioners, which make a total of 114 local authorities. The three latter classes are all town local authorities. They are not subordinate to the County Council level, but their functions are limited by virtue of their size and/or by a limitation in their statutory function. The County council is responsible for certain functions throughout the entire county, including the towns. Under the Local Government Bill 2000 town local authorities will in future be generally known as town councils.

3. SPECIFIC ISSUES

Under this heading a number of specific issues will be discussed that are related to special features of IrelanD’s local government.

3.1 Functions of local government

Traditionally, in a common law system local government only had the competences specified in statute law. Ireland was no exception. The traditional ultra vires doctrine limited local government to the functions that were specifically listed in statute law. In the 1990s Ireland loosened the grip of this so-called ultra vires doctrine. The powers of local government were significantly strengthened by the Local Government Acts of 1991 and 1994. However, the strengthening of powers has been linked to the financial resources available. The change is being confirmed in the new Local Government Bill 2000. A general competence has been formulated as (a) a power to perform functions related to express statutory powers, and (b) to take general action to promote the interests of the local community. In both cases there are the restrictions that are common in countries which traditionally have competence for local government.

Local authorities in Ireland are multi-purpose bodies. Their most important functions include physical planning, housing and building road transportation and safety, water supply and sewerage, development incentives and controls, environmental protection and recreation and amenities. The distribution of the functions between the different bodies of local government is complicated. The County Councils and city Councils are vested with the full range of functions. In some cases some of these functions are also performed by the town local authorities. Like the situation in other European countries, virtually all important functions are regulated by statute law.

In contrast to many other European countries, the Irish local authorities have only minor involvement in education, health and public transport, electricity and gas distribution provision and no statutory input to policing matters. For instance, health functions were transferred in 1971 to health boards. Mainly it seems that in Ireland, for historical and economic development reasons, these matters are dealt with either by central government or by National Public Agencies (Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs, FÁS: national training authority, Garda Síochana: national police service etc). Heath services are delivered by eight Health Boards, half of whose members are elected councillors.

In my view, the nature of local authorities’ responsibilities is fundamental to the reality of local self-government. As is stated in the explanatory report of the Charter, it is not possible to define precisely what affairs local authorities should be entitled to regulate and manage but the intention of the Charter is that local authorities should have a broad range of responsibilities which are capable of being carried out at local level. In addition, it should be pointed out that at European level, the subsidiarity principle laid down in article 4.3 of the Charter which provides that public responsibilities shall generally be exercised, in preference, by those authorities which are closest to citizens, has now been widely accepted by the member States of the Council of Europe. The fact that it has been possible to achieve a broad consensus on this in Europe becomes clear when we realise that almost all member States of the Council of Europe have signed the Charter and most have ratified it. Thus, in my view s a rapporteur, the Charter must be interpreted in connection with the subsidiarity principle, according to which it is initially assumed that the lowest administrative entity, i.e. the local authority, has the competence to take a particular decision. Only when the next highest authority proves that a decision has an impact beyond the limits of one administrative tier should his authority assume the responsibility for taking it. The result is that decisions at all levels are taken as close to the citizen as possible and then politically endorsed in democratic elections (principle of democratic accountability).

To limit local authorities to matters which do not have wide implications would risk relegating them to a marginal role. In addition, local government can better match local preferences which is economically more efficient than providing a standard, centralised level of services which takes no account of local variations in preferences.

However, it should be mentioned that Ireland is one of the less densely populated countries of Europe and the cost of providing and operating a satisfactory infrastructure can be substantial. In addition, major population units in Ireland tend to be smaller and more widely separated than elsewhere in Europe. Thus, it is understandable that in a peculiar Irish context of economic and social changes the process of granting local authorities new wider functions should be seen as a realistic, gradual and a medium-term process.

The government is committed to transferring more functions to local government at a realistic and progressive pace. This should be encouraged by the Congress but it is obvious that success of granting local government gradually new powers will depend to a large extent on simultaneous transfer of financial means available to these authorities.

3.2 Local finance

The financing of Irish local government has been controversial since the abolition of domestic rates in 1978 (a major local source of Council finances), made following a commitment in a national election campaign. The transfer of the liability for domestic rates to the Exchequer in 1978, coupled with the “capping” of non-domestic rates in subsequent years, led to a highly centralised system of financing of local government. Although since 1987 local government has been increasingly financed by local sources, the current system may be regarded as allowing limited discretion to local authorities to determine local service levels and related expenditure levels.

Currently Irish local authorities spend some £1,810 million (2000) (current) and £1,800 (capital) annually and employ 30 000 people. In 2000, 47% of the current expenditure of local authorities emanated from the state: grants 28% and Local Government Fund payments 19%. Rates made 25% and charges for services 28%. Rates are only levied on commercial premises. The Local Government Fund is a state fund assigned to local government that was only recently created by statute. The fund is financed by the full proceeds of net motor taxation and an Exchequer contribution which is index linked.

State grants are allocated in two ways- (1) specific grants for specific schemes, such as housing, water schemes, road improvements and (2) block grants to cover the general expenditure of local authorities. State grants to local authorities embrace many aspects of their operations and paid by a number of different Government Departments. In 2000, the most important grants paid by the State to local authorities were for roads, housing, water and sewerage which matches with main local authorities’ functions.

According to some interlocutors, the recent success of Irish economy has resulted in greater buoyancy in the local finances of local authorities and money became available to local government through various programmes. The improvement of the economy has also led to much greater demands of the population as people expect higher level of services because of the country’s prosperity. However, funds available through various programmes – mainly EU funded – involved thecreation in the early 1990s of an almost parallel system of local non-elected local development bodies bypassing local democratically elected Councils and dealing with issues such s rural and social development, etc, which could be of interest to local Councils. The subsequent establishment of the City/County Development Boards in 1999 aims to integrate the local government and “local Development” systems, under the local government umbrella.

At the present, it seems that local government is still to a large degree dependent on state financing. For the time being, the only discretionary local funding sources are rates on commercial premises and a miscellany of charges for services. It is probably very difficult to change that pattern in the near future. The establishment of a Local Government Fund seems to be a step in the right direction. It provides an assigned revenue system governed by statutory provisions enacted by the parliament and has resulted in significantly increased allocations to local authorities in recent years. Like other countries, Ireland has problems to establish a lasting system of equalising grants. An equalisation model has recently been developed in co-operation with local authorities and is subject to ongoing refinement.

3.3 The elected councils

Each local government unit has an elected council. The number of members varies from 52 in the Dublin City Council to 15 in the Galway City Council. Smaller town authorities have either 12 or 9 members. The council is elected by universal suffrage and the voting age is 18. Persons resident in the state (including non-national) are eligible to stand for election and to vote. Proportional representation was introduced in 1920. The method used is the so-called single transferable vote in multi-member electoral areas. It can be described as a system that unites party elections with elections of a person. A problem is that no replacements of the like are elected. If a seat is vacated during a term, a new member is elected by the council itself (co-option). In principle, the term of office is five years. In practice, in the past the terms have frequently been prolonged by the state, but this is now no longer possible following the constitutional amendment in 1999. The latest elections took place in 1999 and from now on elections must take place every five years. Thus, the next local government elections will be held in 2004.

The local government elections are essentially party elections. The same parties that are active on national level are also competing for seats in the local councils. Nevertheless, 9% of the seats in County and City Councils were taken by non-party candidates in the 1999 elections. Political control over councils is important in determining the political identity of the holder of the Chair/Mayor position, on selection of the Council’s representatives to other statutory bodies such as regional authorities and on the chairs of SPCs. It seems that in Irish tradition all of these positions are allocated by the dominant party within the council; consideration such as interest, experience, gender and youth/men women balance are not necessarily taken into account.

The Irish system of proportional representation seems to guarantee the representation of all-important trends of opinion in the local community. The term of office for elected members of local government is now constitutionally guaranteed. A five-year term is reasonable. A particular feature is that vacancies during the term of election are filled by the Council itself by cooption. In the 2000 Bill there are provisions that the party of the former Councillor shall nominate the new one. Co-option seems to be a somewhat old-fashioned way of filling vacancies in a democratically elected body. It could be argued that it is not fully in line with Art.3 para. 2 of the Charter. I think that it ought to be studied whether in the future a system of elected replacements could be introduced.

3.4 Directly elected chairpersons (Cathaoirleach)

Currently the Mayor/Chairperson of a local authority is elected on an annual basis by the members of the Council who performs representational role rather than executive ones like in many other European countries.

In the Local Government Bill 2000 it has been proposed that County Council and City Council Chairpersons shall be elected by the people by direct election. These measures seem principally to be intended as a means of increasing the interest of the general public in local government and as a counter-balance to the manager. These types of issues are not addressed by the Charter. Every country has to build on its own experiences. Some possible problems with directly elected Chairpersons ought to be mentioned, though. There can be problems in relationship to the other council members if the Chairperson does not have a majority in the Council. There can also be increased problems in relation to the manager. Even if the Chairperson is not entrusted with any particular powers apart from leading the meetings of the Council, he or she may very well be looked at as a special political leader because he/she is directly elected. This can lead to controversies with the manager who is in charge with the administration, not least if the Chairperson has no majority in the Council.

I think that in years to come the directly elected Mayor or Chairpersons, if this provision is adopted by the parliament, should be given more executive powers in order to strengthen elected members political and policy making role and their involvement in local affairs. This scheme seems to be under probation in the framework of Corporate Policy Groups (see Section 3.8).

3.5 Remuneration and leave of elected members

So far, elected members of local government have had no remuneration for their work; almost all are part-time. They have only been paid an annual allowance designed to cover travel expenses, meals, postage, telephone and general expenses, etc. Expenses for attendance at conferences, seminars also apply. A local authority may, in addition, pay the Chairman an allowance which is fixed by the elected Council. Separate allowances are also paid to the Chairs of the new SPC’s (Strategic Policy Committees).

However, members of the national Parliament who are also councillors and have a salary and office resources with the Parliament to work full time on local authority issue seem to be favourised. I felt that, in general, the remuneration of local politicians in Ireland is a big issue. Many of them spend an important part of their time on local authority business on top of their normal profession and so far remuneration of elected members for their work has been unsatisfactory and probably not conform with Art.7. para 2, of the charter. It seems likely that these problems will be rectified under a new Local Government Act.

Besides, there are no rules on leave from work for elected members. There is some limited provision for councillors working in semi-state companies or the teaching profession. However, there is no provision for those working in the private sector who depend on the goodwill of employers. Consequently, membership of councils is often made up of those who are self-employed. To my mind, this is a very serious issue, in that it means that young working people have less opportunity to be elected even though they certainly represent an innovative and dynamic sector of Irish society. It should be addressed, as it seems that there is a limited participation by women (16% of all local elected councillors and only three Chairwoman of County Councils), young people and wage-earners in local government policy making in Ireland. Local elected councils should be the venue for expression of all ages, genders and social profiles of the whole society.

3.5 Dual mandate

In Ireland there is a strong tradition that many MPs at the same time also perform functions as elected members of local government. 48% of the members of the Lower House and 63% of the Senators are members of a council.

Since 1991 Ministers and Junior Ministers may not hold local authority membership. Under the Local Government Act 1994, neither may MEPs and from 1999 MPs are no longer allowed to be Chairpersons of Councils. The new Bill would eliminate the dual mandate entirely from the next local elections in 2004. The holding of simultaneous membership of town and county local authorities, which is not infrequent, is not effected by the new Bill.

To bar MPs from serving as members of local government might seem to be a drastic step. However, one could be receptive to comments made by various interlocutors, who question the practice of simultaneous holding of office by national and local elected representatives. It may be indeed appropriate to restrict the practice of simultaneous office-holding in order to valorise the role of local elected representatives who assume their political responsibility only at local level.

3.6 Council and Manager

IrelanD’s local government is characterised by the division of tasks between the elected council and an appointed manager who is Head of the Council Administration and responsible for the day-to-day running of the authority. Formally, the manager is appointed by the council, but only one candidate is submitted by a central independent public recruitment agency, the Local Appointment Commission. The manager can be suspended or removed from office by a two-thirds majority vote by the Council. However, under Local Government Bill 2000 a manager cannot be removed without the sanction of the Minister for the Environment and Local Government.

The elected council’s functions are the so-called ‘reversed functions’ – are performed by the manager. The idea is that the important policy decisions should be made by the elected council and the executive operates within these policy parameters and subject to oversight and direction by the council. Reserved functions include the annual budget, adopting the land-use development plan and borrowing money and a number of important decisions. It may be noted that there is no executive committee of the council or the like provided for in Irish local government law, as operates in some countries but it may be expected that the CPGs will play this political role. The elected council is kept informed of executive actions, may veto proposed works, or call in and itself direct the performance of any executive action.

The Irish County/City manager plays an important role as Head of Administration and is generally entrusted with the ‘executive functions’ of the County/City council. The manager post is not an elected office and the council’s influence on the appointment is limited. His/her salary is also centrally fixed. At least to some extent, the Manager’s position in its present shape can be seen as a limitation of the elected members’ role. However, the executive role is carried out subject to the general oversight of the elected council and is subject to powers of direction. It is debateable whether the Manager’s present role is not in some dissonance with European Charter (see in particular Art. 3. para 2). I should like to record that in the counties we visited the management and local elected members seem to act in close co-operation. Nevertheless, I think that in future the appointment and role of the manager ought to be further studied in the light of the reforms currently underway to strengthen the role of the council and of a new system of Corporate Policy Group which are in principle designed to devolve gradually more executive powers to elected members.

3.7 Strategic Policy Committees, Corporate Policy Groups and County Development Boards

Participation of representatives having special interests, such as of economic life, labour unions, non-profit-making organisations, etc. in the preparation of decisions on national level, is seen as a major cause of the Irish economy success in the 1990s. In 1999, a system of Strategic Policy Committees (SPC) was introduced at local government level. In a county there are normally four such committees (agriculture/farming (if applicable), environmental/conversation. Development/construction, business/commercial, trade union, community/voluntary /disadvantaged). The intention is that they should have input in the early stages of policy formulation and strategic planning.

In fact, the SPCs are newly established committees of local authorities. They have the role to advise the elected council. They consist of elected members (two-thirds) and sectoral (one-third) representatives. The full elected Council is always the decision maker. The aim of SPC’s is mainly to develop the neglected policy making role of elected members and to involve sectoral and community representatives in policy making. SPC Chairs (elected members) together with the Chairpersons of the Council, make up the Corporate Policy Group (CPG) which is designed to be a sort of cabinet of local authority to deal with financial and other cross cutting issues. The political executive body may be more inclined to take hard political decisions, which is probably difficult to do in the present context. For instance, we were informed that a small minority of local councils had failed to take decisions with regard to travellers’ settlement programmes, national roads development and waste management. At this stage, it is clear that SPCs will need time to develop their full potential. I am convinced and I understand that the current Minister shares my view, that CPG should be given gradually more executive role in managing local affairs and thus in the future the directly elected mayors will be granted more executive powers. If this process is completed in the years to come, one will be able to speak about a radical change in local authority structures and central role of elected representatives with regard to local management.

However, I should like to point out that without active participation of elected members there could be a risk that SPCs in reality will take over the decision from the Council. This can lead to a situation where the democratically elected members of the Council find that the real decisions are taken within a corporist structure over their heads. For the time being, this seems not to be the case. On the contrary, SPCs provide a platform where local initiatives can be discussed in an open way which was not the case in the past. It is also the role of the CPG to co-ordinate politics of a local authority.

To coordinate a common strategy for economic, social and cultural development County Development Boards (CDB) were set up in 2000. They consist of representatives of local government and the various public bodies at local level. CDBs are designed to bring forward a social and economic strategy for the area in partnership with local agencies and social partners. Up to now, central agencies delivering services locally could operate without reference to local government. In future, regional offices of central agencies will work out with local authorities, through the CDB’s, how the agencies’ plans can be made consistent with the overall social/economic strategy for the area. CDB’s operate under the local government umbrella and the concept aims to ensure that local government influences the public services provided in their areas. They are chaired by the Chair of the city/county council; the strategy is also signed off by the county or city council.

CDBs are not a full and direct transfer of more functions to local government but could be seen as a first step to devolve new powers to local government.

3.7.1 State supervision of local authorities

The state supervision of local government is very much in line with the situation in other member states of the Council of Europe. However, in the laws addressing local government there are several provisions that give the Minister the power to make detailed provisions that supplement the law. It seems that the Irish local government is more controlled by such detailed regulations than usually is the case in non common law countries. However, such regulations constitute secondary legislation, must go before Parliament and are subject to review by the courts.

The central government plays a very important role for local government. The Minister of the Environment and Local Government has important regulatory powers. Even if the new Local Government Bill is passed by Parliament, the regulatory powers will be kept. The Bill empowers the Minister to regulate many details. In the new Bill, there are provisions about regulations by the Minister in, e.g., sec. 44 (gender balance in committees, etc.), sec. 48 (Strategic Policy Committees), sec. 133 (corporate plan), sec. 168 (code of conduct). It can be doubted whether the prolific use of regulations is in harmony with the spirit of the Charter, see, e.g., Art. 4, para. 2, and Art. 8, par. 2.

It also seems that a requirement that local government, when exercising its functions, shall “have regard to policies and objectives of the Government or any Minister of the Government” (sec. 68 (1); cf., however, subsection2) affects the autonomy of local government negatively. However, for the first time the Bill provides that subject to law “a local authority is independent in the performance of its functions”.

Administrative supervision by central government is not very far-reaching. Local government’s borrowing money and lending money to another local government is submitted to the Minister’s approval in advance. Local government is audited by the Local Government Audit Service. According to our interlocutors, during the last 60 years, local authorities have only been dismissed four times for failure to carry out specific statutory duties.

4. Regional Authorities

In 1994, eight regional authorities were established with a specific mandate to promote co-ordination of public services at the regional level, and to monitor and advise on the implementation of European Union funding in the regions. The membership consists of County and City Councillors from the region who are appointed by the constituent local authorities. They are supported by an operational committee which includes the relevant county and city managers and executives of various public agencies. Additionally, for EU purposes, a number of interests are represented on special monitoring committees. The regional authorities are funded by the constituent local authorities with special support provided by the Department of Finance in respect of EU related functions. The authorities operate at a modest level with current annual operating expenditure levels which range from about IR£100,000 to IR£200,000 (1996) and their staffing levels typically include a Secretary and generally one or two other employees.

In 1999, two new larger regional authorities, known as Regional Assemblies were established with an enhanced role as regards EU programmes. They are the Border, Midland and Western Regional Assembly, and the Southern and Eastern Regional Assembly.

The regional authorities seem not to be a part of local government tradition in Ireland and before 1994 there had not been any primary legislation in this respect. Unlike other countries, the regions do not seem to have any historical basis or public sentiment in the Irish context. The counties seem to have deep-rooted local authorities in Irish local government tradition. The legislative foundation of the regional authorities remains rather weak as well as their functions, compared with regions in other European countries with a strong regional tradition.

However, the regional authorities to some extent have surpassed the expectations given their weak basis and have had an impact at local level. They are involved in the decision-making process but perform basically advisory functions aimed at putting together regional development plans as a part of wider national plans.

In this respect, I should like to highlight that the establishment of regions has been a feature in many parts of Europe over past years. Regions are widely used as a means for decentralising functions of central government and this process has proven its efficiency in a number of countries. The structure emerging in many European countries is a three-tier system with an upper regional level having control over economic development, health, education, roads and tourism, but these functions vary from country to country. Even though in some countries the cost and value of an extra tier of government is questioned, I believe that regional authorities have a broad potential and are able to fulfil strategic, economic and sustainable development functions which are an essential part of subsidiarity.

5. Irish Local Government and the European Charter of Local Self-Government – Summary

According to our Irish interlocutors, the European Charter of Local Self-Government has influenced local government reform programme. In 1996, the government decided that Ireland should sign and ratify the Charter as soon as necessary formalities are completed. This has been confirmed by Minister Noel Dempsey and represents a clear expression of a commitment to the renewal of local government in Ireland.

Ireland signed the European Charter of Local Self-Government in 1997. It has not yet ratified it. The main reason is that the Irish government wants the 2000 reform bill adopted by Parliament before ratification is proposed. In my opinion this stance is understandable, even if it is desirable that the Charter be ratified as soon as possible.

A number of observations have already been made in relation with the Charter and some are summarised here. They are meant to help promote further development of local government in line with the Charter.

-I call upon the Irish Parliament to explicitly accept the principle of subsidiarity when discussing and adopting the new Bill, 2000. Indeed, it would be a great opportunity for Ireland to bring its legislation further into line with the European Charter of Local Self-government.

-Local government should be able to perform wide functions at local level, but it is understandable that gradual devolving of powers may take some years until a renewed model of local government has been put in place.

-Local government is still largely dependent on state money. It is crucial that there are strong statutory provisions on finance to secure local government’s autonomy.

-The local government elections seem to function well. However, a system of replacements could be considered, instead of the present co-option system. Measures to promote wider participation in the elections should also be considered. Working class’, young peoples’ and womens’ participation as elected members should be promoted.

-The system of a County Manager with executive functions can limit the elected members’ influence. It is important that elected members can fully play their leading role in local government affairs. This seems to be the aim of Corporate Policy Groups which are designed to involve more elected representative in daily running of local affairs.

-Even when the now proposed reforms of the principal statute law governing local government are implemented, local government is still much submitted to central government’s, and in particular the Minister for the Environment and Local Government’s, detailed regulations.

I think that it is desirable that the system of detailed central government regulations be systematically reconsidered. In appropriate cases it could either be abolished or replaced by statute law.

-I think that the three Associations of Local Authorities should act in co-ordination and have a coherent and common approach on local government issues.

In Ireland very comprehensive reforms of local self-government are under way. I hope that they will be as successful as the Irish economy has been in the last decade. It is important that the European Charter of Local Self-Government be ratified as soon as possible. By its ratification it will be further entrenched as a model for democratic local government.

The draft Government Bill, 2000, together with other government proposals aimed at strengthening local government in Ireland, is worth being encouraged and should be seen as a step forward towards genuine local democracy.

* Deputy Eamon Gilmore was appointed in place of Deputy Brendan Howlin on 24^th February, 1999.

* Senator Fintan Coogan was appointed in place of Senator Joe Doyle on 30^th March, 2000.

* Deputy Séamus Kirk was appointed in place of Deputy Eoin Ryan on 11 April, 2000.

* Deputy Ivan Yates was appointed in place of Deputy Deirdre Clune on 29 June, 2000.

* Deputy Eamon Gilmore was appointed in place of Deputy Brendan Howlin on 24^th February, 1999.

* Senator Fintan Coogan was appointed in place of Senator Joe Doyle on 30^th March, 2000.

* Deputy Séamus Kirk was appointed in place of Deputy Eoin Ryan on 11 April, 2000.

* Deputy Ivan Yates was appointed in place of Deputy Deirdre Clune on 29 June, 2000.

* Deputy Eamon Gilmore was appointed in place of Deputy Brendan Howlin - 24 February, 1999.

* Deputy Séamus Kirk was appointed in place of Deputy Eoin Ryan - 11 April, 2000.