Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 20:

In page 25, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following:
“19. (1) The Minister shall as soon as is practicable and in accordance with this part establish an Advisory Panel on the Future Development of Local Government (in this Part referred to as the Panel).
(2) Membership of the Panel shall comprise three persons appointed by the Minister with the consent of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government.
(3) The Panel shall prepare and submit to the Minister not less than 1 year after 2014 Establishment Day, and every second year hence, a report detailing:(a) the effectiveness of the reforms made to Regional Authorities under this Act;
(b) the effectiveness of the reforms made to Local Authorities under this Act;
(c) the effectiveness of the reforms made to Municipal Districts under this Act;
(d) a review indicating the level of adherence in the State to each provision of the European Charter of Local Self Government done at Strasbourg on the 15 October 1985, and what measures the Panel consider necessary to achieve the fullest adherence (ETS No. 122);
(e) the measures the Panel deems necessary to further devolve functions and powers to regional authorities from central government in the areas of:

(i) Planning and Development;
(ii) Environmental protection;
(iii) Sustainable economic growth;
(iv) Transport provision, including roads and public transport;
(v) Household, commercial and industrial waste;
(vi) Public Procurement;
(vii) Renewable energy capacity;
(viii) Social and community development;
(ix) Education and Training;
(x) Culture and Heritage;
(xi) Parks and Wildlife;

(f) The measures the Panel deems necessary to further devolve functions and powers to municipal district councils from local authorities in the areas of:

(i) Planning and Development;
(ii) Environmental protection;
(iii) Sustainable social and community development;
(iv) Sustainable economic growth;
(v) Energy Microgeneration;

and all powers and functions referred to in Parts 1, 2 and 3 of Schedule 14A of the Principal Act;
(g) A review of the funds, assets and resources assigned to local government on a per capita basis for each Municipal District Council, Local Authority and Regional Authority.(4) The Panel shall publish its report within 30 days of presenting it to the Minister and it shall be laid before Dáil Éireann by the Government forthwith.
(5) The Panel shall stand dissolved only with the consent of both Houses of the Oireachtas on the request of the Government.”.

The wording for this amendment was taken from the European charter of local self-government. I am aware a national oversight and audit commission will be set up but there will only be oversight of what is being established. If local government reform is to mean anything, it should not be an event but a process. If we are to have the devolution of functions and powers from a variety of Departments, a means of doing that is required. Many of the areas I have included are covered by the European charter.

One of the things which is very different about Irish local government compared to very developed local government systems in some European countries, in particular the Nordic countries, is the lack of functions. I accept new functions will be allocated but there must be a mechanism to do this on a continuous basis. This amendment is intended to provide for that and to be consistent with the charter, which this country has signed. It is one thing to review the effectiveness of something that is static but in terms of something that will be dynamic, there needs to be something else. That is the reason behind this amendment.