The Local Government Reform Act 2014 (No. 1) is an
act of the
Oireachtas
The Oireachtas ( ; ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the president of Ireland and the two houses of the Oireachtas (): a house ...
which provided for a major restructuring of
local government in Ireland Local government in Ireland may refer to:
* Local government in the Republic of Ireland
* Local government in Northern Ireland
* History of local government in Ireland History
Local government
Local government
Local government is a generic ter ...
with effect from the
2014 local elections. It merged some first-tier
county
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
and city councils, abolished all second-tier
town and borough councils, and created a new second tier of
municipal district
A municipal district is an administrative entity comprising a clearly-defined territory and its population. It may be a city, a town, a village, a small grouping of them, or a rural area.
Brazil
In Brazil, municipal districts are, in general, su ...
s covering rural as well as urban areas. It also provided for a
plebiscite
A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or adv ...
on whether to create a directly elected executive Mayor of the Dublin Metropolitan Area (distinct from the existing ceremonial office of
Lord Mayor of Dublin city) although this provision was not activated. The act was introduced as a
bill on 15 October 2013 by
Phil Hogan
Philip Hogan (born 4 July 1960) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as European Commissioner for Trade between 2019 and 2020, and previously European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development between 2014 and 2019.
He p ...
, the
Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government
The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage () is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage is Jame ...
, and
signed into law
A bill is a proposal for a new law, or a proposal to substantially alter an existing law.
A bill does not become law until it has been passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive.
Bills are introduced in the leg ...
on 27 January 2014 by
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
Michael D. Higgins
Michael Daniel Higgins (; born 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician, poet, broadcaster, and sociologist who has been serving as the president of Ireland since 2011. Entering national politics through the Labour Party, he served as a senator ...
. Most of its provisions
came into force
In law, coming into force or entry into force (also called commencement) is the process by which legislation, regulations, treaties and other legal instruments come to have legal force and effect. The term is closely related to the date of this ...
on 1 June 2014.
Background
The
Local Government Act 2001
The Local Government Act 2001 (No. 37) was enacted by the Oireachtas on 21 July 2001 to reform local government in Ireland. Most of the provisions of the Act came into operation on 1 January 2002. The act was a restatement and amendment of pr ...
had replaced the
Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898
The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 ( 61 & 62 Vict. c. 37) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that established a system of local government in Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots diale ...
as the primary legislation for local government in the state. It redesignated the "
urban district council
In England and Wales, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected urban district council (UDC), which shared local government responsibilities with a county council. ...
s" and "
town commissioners
Town commissioners were elected local government bodies that existed in urban areas in Ireland from the 19th century until 2002. Larger towns with commissioners were converted to urban districts by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, wit ...
" as "town councils" without substantive changes to their existing powers, which were relatively slight for urban districts and even more so for commissioners. Various plans for more fundamental changes to the local government system have been made both before and after the 2001 Act. After the
2011 general election, the new
Fine Gael–Labour coalition's programme for government promised reform and rationalisation of local authorities, both to enhance democratic accountability and local power, and as part of a broader range of spending cuts in response to the state's
ongoing financial crisis. In 2011 and 2012, local commissions recommended the mergers of three pairs of neighbouring first-tier local authorities:
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
and
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
Tipperary, Waterford
City
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
and
County
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
, and Limerick
City
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
and
County
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
. In 2012, the
Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government
The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage () is a department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
Departmental team
The official headquarters and ministerial offices ...
published ''Putting People First — Action Programme for Effective Local Government'', which outlined the changes planned for the prospective bill. The minister established a boundary commission to define
local electoral area
A local electoral area (LEA; ) is an electoral area for elections to Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local authorities in Ireland. All elections in the Republic of Ireland, elections use the single transferable vote. Republic of Ir ...
s for the 2014 election, including the Action Programme within its terms of reference.
Provision for directly elected mayors was included in the 2001 Act but repealed in 2003 without having been invoked. The idea of an executive mayor for
Greater Dublin
The Greater Dublin Area (GDA; Irish: ''Mórcheantar Bhaile Átha Cliath''), or simply Greater Dublin, is an informal term that is taken to include the city of Dublin and its hinterland, with varying definitions as to its extent. At the expansive ...
was given impetus by the establishment of a
Mayor of London
The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom.
The current ...
, and was promoted by the
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice.
Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...
in the
2007–11 government. A bill to that effect was introduced in 2010, lapsing when the Dáil was dissolved for the 2011 election.
Provisions of the act
The main provisions are summarised in the Act's
long title
In certain jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and other Westminster-influenced jurisdictions (such as Canada or Australia), as well as the United States and the Philippines, primary legislation has both a short title and a long title.
The ...
:
:An Act to make further and better provision in relation to local government and, in particular, to amalgamate Limerick County Council with Limerick City Council, Waterford County Council with Waterford City Council and North Tipperary County Council with South Tipperary County Council, to provide for the position of chief executive in relation to each local authority, to dissolve town councils, to make provision for municipal districts, to assign additional reserved functions to local authority members, to dissolve County Development Boards and City Development Boards and make provision for the establishment of Local Community Development Committees, for planning and oversight of Local and Community Development Programmes, to provide for an increased role for local authorities in economic development and enterprise support, to amend the Local Government Act 1991 and provide for
regional assemblies, to enable (subject to certain preconditions) a plebiscite to be held in the administrative areas of the local authorities in the Dublin area in respect of a directly elected mayor for that area and for those and other purposes to amend the Local Government Acts 1925 to 2013, the Local Elections Acts 1974 to 2012 and other enactments relating to elections, the Housing Acts 1966 to 2013 and the Planning and Development Act 2000, to amend other Acts in connection with the foregoing matters, to amend section 20 of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority Act 1997 and to provide for related matters.
Details
The merged North Tipperary and South Tipperary was a county called
Tipperary, restoring the county's administrative unity for the first time since 1838. The merged Limerick and Waterford areas were designated a "city and county", otherwise equivalent to a county.
Except in the Dublin Region, all counties (including the two "cities and counties") were subdivided into two or more second-tier units called "municipal districts". The districts which include Limerick and Waterford cities are "metropolitan districts" and those including an existing borough are "borough districts"; both names conferring the right for the chairperson of the district council to be called "
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
". Each district comprises one (or, occasionally, more than one) local electoral area; the district councillors also serve as the area's county councillors.
The position of county/city manager" was replaced by that of "
Chief Executive
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization.
CEOs find roles in variou ...
". Existing managers were the initial chief executives, with local authorities gaining the power to veto subsequent appointments and to remove a chief executive for "stated misbehaviour".
Part 11 of the act provided for a process leading to a
directly elected mayor for the Dublin Metropolitan Area. This required approval from the councils of the four local authorities in the area, namely the city of
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
and the counties of
South Dublin
South Dublin () is a county in Ireland, within the province of Leinster and the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which was disestablished for administrative purposes in 1994. South Dublin Cou ...
,
Fingal
Fingal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which ...
, and
Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown
Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown () is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which was disestablished in 1994. It is named after the former ...
. Three supported it, but
Fingal County Council
Fingal County Council () is the local authority of the county of Fingal, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that succeeded the former Dublin County Council on abolition on 1 January 1994 and is one of four local authorities in County ...
voted 16–6 to reject it on 31 March 2014, terminating the process.
Local authority changes
Debate
The Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland (AMAI), which represented the town and borough councils abolished under the act, objected to the bill. It later published guidelines for the transition to the new structure. In March 2014, after the AMAI decided not to challenge the Act in court, another group called Former Local Authority Members Éire (FLAME) was founded by members of abolished councils.
After the bill became law the AMAI merged with the Association of County & City Councils to form the Association of Irish Local Government.
The bill was introduced as the Local Government Bill 2013; the word "Reform" was inserted into its title at
committee stage
An act of Parliament in the United Kingdom is primary legislation passed by the UK Parliament in Westminster, London.
An act of Parliament can be enforced in all four of the UK constituent countries (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ire ...
by the
select subcommittee on the Environment, Community and Local Government.
On 28 April 2014,
Mattie McGrath TD applied to the
High Court for an
injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable rem ...
to stop the local elections on 23 May 2014, arguing the 2014 Act was null as it was passed without a
vote
Voting is the process of choosing officials or policies by casting a ballot, a document used by people to formally express their preferences. Republics and representative democracies are governments where the population chooses representative ...
, and that it violated
Article 28A of the Constitution and the
European Charter of Local Self-Government
The European Charter of Local Self-Government was adopted under the auspices of the Congress of the Council of Europe and was opened for signature by the Council of Europe's member states on 15 October 1985. All Council of Europe member states a ...
.
Aftermath
In March 2015, then Labour Party ministers
Brendan Howlin
Brendan Howlin (born 9 May 1956) is an Irish former Labour Party (Ireland), Labour Party politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party (Ireland), Leader of the Labour Party from 2016 to 2020, Minister for Public Expenditure, National Devel ...
and
Alan Kelly expressed dissatisfaction with the abolition of town councils.
Howlin regretted having acquiesced to Fine Gael minister Phil Hogan, who championed the proposal.
The ''
Irish Independent
The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper
A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...
'' reported in November 2015 that the Fianna Fáil manifesto for the
2016 election would promise to restore town councils.
In 2015, an advisory group and forum began reviewing local government; based on their work up to May 2016,
Simon Coveney
Simon Coveney (born 16 June 1972) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from 2022 to 2024. He served as Leader of Fine Gael#Deputy leaders, deputy leader of Fine Gael from 2017 to 202 ...
the then
Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government
The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage () is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage is Jame ...
said, "the revised structures are generally operating well but will need more time to bed down fully". The programme of the
Fine Gael–led government formed after the
2016 election considered "establishing town and borough councils subject to a local plebiscite and local funding". In June 2017,
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland.
Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...
introduced a
private member's bill
A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in wh ...
to establish a Town Councils Commission "to carry out a review and make recommendations relating to the establishment and boundaries of a town council system". It was opposed by the government on the grounds that it would pre-empt its own report, published in July 2017, on "potential measures to boost local government leadership and accountability".
References
*
*
Citations
External links
Local Government Reform Bill 2013 (changed from Local Government Bill 2013)index of the bill's passage through the Oireachtas
*
{{Local government in the Republic of Ireland, state=collapsed
2014 in Irish law
Acts of the Oireachtas of the 2010s
Local government in the Republic of Ireland
Local government legislation
Reform in the Republic of Ireland