Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the opportunity to discuss the establishment by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly, of the Carlow boundary committee, the terms of reference of which is to review the county boundary between Laois and Carlow. The title of the committee, namely, the Carlow boundary committee, gives the game away.

I am calling on the Minister, Deputy Kelly, to abandon this process now and not cause unnecessary divisions on a matter long since closed. There is no need for this to be done. I am strongly critical of the Minister opening up this debate and allowing for unnecessary divisions at local level between people who live close to the boundary between Laois and Carlow. Laois and Carlow counties work excellently as good local neighbours. Good local neighbours should not be encroaching on each other's areas. There is no reason for this to be done.

I have previously instanced another example of this in my own constituency. The River Barrow runs through Laois and Carlow and is the county boundary for much of the area, although not the entire area. Further up, the River Barrow runs through the town of Portarlington, part of which is in County Laois and the other part of which is in County Offaly. There is never a problem in dealing with Portarlington issues because both councils work excellently as good neighbours for the good of Portarlington. The same approach should be taken in relation to the area known as Graiguecullen, which is part of County Laois but adjacent to Carlow town. The two counties can work excellently as good neighbours, as they have always done.

My question for the Minister is: who, or what, is behind this move to change the county boundary for no good reason? We will do all in our power to stop this happening. I do not want to hear about opportunities for people to make representations to the boundary committee as this process should not go ahead. It should be closed down. Nobody in County Laois has asked for this to be done. We want to know why the Minister will not leave well enough alone.

As I have already stated, the terms of reference mention the Carlow boundary committee. They also state that if there are to be changes to the county boundaries the impact of this on the municipal district of Carlow must be taken into account. However, there is no mention in the terms of reference of the impact of any proposed change to the county boundaries on the municipal district of County Laois. If part of Laois is moved into County Carlow, this will impact on the Graigueullen-Portarlington municipal district in County Laois. There is no mention in the terms of reference of the part of Laois that will be affected. I will challenge the Minister in regard to biased terms of reference that are not objective in that they reference only changes to the municipal district in Carlow. It is not possible to change the Portarlington-Graiguecullen municipal district boundary between Laois and Carlow without impacting on the Portarlington or Graiguecullen-Portarlington municipal district.

The Minister of State, Deputy English, is well aware of what is involved in this regard given the moves to change the county boundary between Drogheda and Meath. The same is happening in Waterford in terms of Waterford wanting to take over part of south Kilkenny. Counties can work well enough together but why is the Minister setting neighbours against each other for no good reason? I want to know who is behind this proposal? For as long as I have been a Deputy, this has been a live issue. It comes up every five years and eventually goes away. I intend to get to the bottom of what group of officials resurrects this issue every five years after it has been put to bed. This is not necessary. Counties Carlow and Laois are good neighbours and they want to remain so. Good neighbours should not be encroaching on each other's area. The Minister should stop this process now.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly, who sends his apologies for being unable to take this debate. I thank Deputy Fleming for the opportunity to update the House on this matter.

As Members are aware, on 19 June last, my colleague, the Minster for the Environment, Community and Local Government, announced the establishment of statutory committees to review local government boundaries in Athlone, Carlow, Drogheda and Waterford. In the case of Carlow, the committee has been asked to carry out a review of the boundary between County Carlow and County Laois and to make recommendations with respect to that boundary and any consequential recommendations to the area of the municipal district of Carlow that it considers to be necessary in the interests of effective and convenient local government.

The main rationale for undertaking the review of boundaries in Carlow is that there is a significant overspill of population into County Laois, based on the population figures taken from the 2011 census. The logic of a boundary alteration, if recommended, would be to bring the administrative jurisdictions into line with the current settlement and development position. Bringing an entire town or city within a single local authority area eliminates anomalies and distortions of divided administration, service provision, regulatory and enforcement responsibility and electoral representation, including problems such as competitive policies and practices between authorities in relation to planning, rating and charges, which can impact negatively on town centres. Differences in standards of service delivery can also be eliminated. It is also usual to extend the boundary to include not only existing development but an additional area to allow for future expansion and to avoid further boundary-related anomalies in the foreseeable future. Consolidation of administrative responsibility can also strengthen the economic performance of the town by eliminating the anomalies to which I have referred and ensuring that there is a single authority working on its behalf.

The committee has been established under section 28 of the Local Government Act 1991. Full details of the terms of reference and membership are available on the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government website. The Minister, Deputy Kelly, is delighted that people of such strong calibre and experience of local government were willing to come forward on a pro bonobasis and assist in settling administrative boundaries for this area.

I have noted the questions posed by the Deputy in relation to the terms of reference. I wish to assure him that I will raise them directly with the Minister on his behalf.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for the response and acknowledge the apologies from the Minister for not being here. First, this process will result in further anomalies as Dáil boundaries in the area correspond with the current county boundaries. Since what is proposed will not change the Dáil boundaries, this will result in the creation of an anomaly whereby we will have different local authority boundaries for county purposes, in terms of local authority administration, relative to the Dáil constituency boundaries, leading to the need for further changes into the future. Second, in regard to the committee, I propose to inquire about its members and their respective interests, roles and knowledge of these areas and if they have ever offered a view on these issues in the past.

In the reply prepared by the Department, the Minister of State referred to a significant overspill of population from Carlow into County Laois, which is very disturbing. Is it being suggested that Carlow is so full there is nowhere for people to live there and as such they are spilling over into County Laois? That is extraordinary. The problem for Laois, in terms of Carlow, is that the town to the eastern side of Carlow is not being developed. Carlow County Council likes to develop the western side of the town which happens to be in County Laois. However, as I said earlier, we have worked jointly on ring-roads around the towns and are currently working jointly on sewerage schemes around the town. We have also worked jointly on housing issues. Two of Carlow County Council's social housing estates were built in County Laois rather than County Carlow. When it boils down to it, those involved in this process will not know the geography.

As I said earlier, part of the River Barrow runs through County Carlow. We will be demanding, if this process continues, that the county boundary be shoved back to the River Barrow, to where it was 100 years ago. We have allowed it encroach a little but will not allow it to encroach any further.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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To be helpful to the Deputy, in the case of Waterford and Carlow, membership of the committee includes: Mr. David O'Connor, former Fingal County Manager, who will chair the committee; Mr. Ciarán Lynch from the Limerick Institute of Technology, Thurles Campus, and former chief planner with Clare County Council; and Mr. Ollie Killeen, former head of finance at Limerick County Council.

Rather than considering it in isolation, we should see the boundary review as very much part of an ongoing assessment of potential reforms which may be warranted beyond those measures announced in the action programme for effective local government and subsequently provided for in the Local Government Reform Act 2014. The majority of the provisions of that Act commenced with effect from 1 June 2014, and that date marked the activation of a range of significant changes in the local government system. Policy decisions to replace town authorities with a new model of municipal governance are at the core of the reform agenda. The model is designed to strengthen local government within counties and address widely acknowledged and long-standing weaknesses and anomalies in the previous system, including the problem of administration that is divided between town and county authorities.

Municipal districts and borough districts, where they arise, now cover the entire territory of counties. As well as creating a more rational and comprehensive structural arrangement, the new system will, over time, result in more effective and community-focused decision making and implementation, with improved accountability and responsiveness to local needs. Moreover, under the new arrangements, there is full integration of local authority resources across each county and elimination of duplication in both administrative and electoral terms.

The establishment of statutory committees to review local government boundaries in Carlow and Laois is a natural and complementary development building on these changes. The Minister, Deputy Kelly, will study the report of the committees carefully after they have concluded their work at the end of February next year.