Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)

I am pleased to bring the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2012 before the Seanad today. The Bill is required to facilitate the Department's agency rationalisation programme, to underpin legislatively any new body established under the Local Government Services (Corporate Bodies) Act 1971 and to provide that one person may be the manager of Limerick city and county councils and north and south Tipperary county councils.

The Local Government Services (Corporate Bodies) Act 1971 provides that the Minister may, by order, establish corporate bodies to provide services to local authorities or to the Minister. It remains the case that the Minister should have the capability to establish bodies, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, to provide services to local authorities or the Minister where it is more practical, efficient and economical to so do. Thirteen bodies have been established under the 1971 Act and of those, seven still exist in law, namely, the Limerick Northside Regeneration Agency, the Limerick Southside Regeneration Agency, the Local Government Management Services Board, the Local Government Computer Services Board, the Affordable Homes Partnership, Irish Water Safety and the Fire Services Council. Generally, the bodies were established to provide specified services for local authorities with the benefit of having a single expert provider, rather than each local authority acquiring or providing the service.

Members may recall that in 2008, the Local Government Services (Corporate Bodies) (Confirmation of Orders) Act was enacted. That legislation was required to address the possible unconstitutionality of section 3 of the 1971 Act. This followed advice of the Attorney General in respect of the Health (Corporate Bodies) Act 1961, which contains similar provisions to the 1971 Act. Article 15.2 of Bunreacht na hÉireann explicitly confers on the Oireachtas the "sole and exclusive power of making laws for the State". In various constitutional challenges over the years concerning whether secondary legislation infringed Article 15.2 of the Constitution, the need for the Government to have a mechanism to establish corporate bodies has been recognised in judgments of the High Court and Supreme Court. In his judgment on the Pigs and Marketing Board v. Donnelly case, Mr. Justice Hanna acknowledged that "the functions of every Government are now so numerous and complex that of necessity a wider sphere has been recognised for subordinate agencies, such as boards and commissions". The then Chief Justice, in his judgment in the Cityview Press v. AnCO case, outlined that the test of the constitutionality of the legal instrument establishing corporate bodies is that it gives "effect to principles and policies which are contained in the statute itself". Basically, when a corporate body is being established, it must be underpinned with principles and policies contained in the primary legislation.

This 2012 Bill is required, inter alia, to address any legal uncertainty surrounding bodies established under the 1971 Act. The intention behind the amendments contained in this Bill in respect of section 3 of the 1971 Act is to set out the principles and policies, in primary legislation to which the Minister shall have regard in his consideration of the requirement to establish any bodies by way of statutory instrument. It is very important to note the Bill is not being pursued for the Minister to increase the number of State bodies under the Department's aegis. On the contrary, the Bill is required to give full effect to the Department's State agency rationalisation programme. This is in keeping with the Government's public sector reform plan announced on 17 November 2011. The plan announced an expanded programme of State agency rationalisation within the Department, which will rationalise 21 such bodies to 11. In this regard, the Bill will allow the Minister to abolish existing bodies and, where appropriate, to establish new bodies to carry out the functions. As for the bodies established under the 1971 Act that still exist, they will be dissolved and merged or subsumed into other public bodies as part of the rationalisation programme.

I will outline the proposals in respect of each of the bodies. The Local Government Management Services Board, LGMSB, and the Local Government Computer Services Board, LGCSB, already are merged in an operational sense and now operate on a joint administrative basis pending the establishment of the merged body, namely, the Local Government Management Agency, on a statutory basis. The Local Government Computer Services Board and the Local Government Management Services Board provide services to local authorities including shared ICT services and collection of public-facing charges on a shared basis for local authorities, as well as industrial relations and human resources shared services. The local government management agency will take on the LGMSB and LGCSB functions and will also take on residual functions from An Chomhairle Leabharlanna. I will discuss An Chomhairle later in greater detail. Section 12 of this bill contains a provision that will allow the local government management agency, when established, to continue to carry out LGCSB and LGMSB functions in respect of the administration of the household charge.

The Affordable Homes Partnership will be dissolved and its functions, as well as those of the Centre for Housing Research and the National Building Agency, have been merged into the interim Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency, IHSCA. This agency is currently operating on an administrative basis and will be given statutory footing through this Bill. Senators will recall that the Affordable Homes Partnership was established in 2005, a very different time in terms of the housing market in Ireland, to co-ordinate and promote the delivery of affordable housing in the greater Dublin area. The Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency works with the Department, local authorities and approved housing bodies in the delivery of housing and housing services. The agency brings together, under one body, a broad range of support and advisory services in respect of housing and other construction-related matters. Although this Bill allows for the establishment of the agency, further and more complex legislation will be required to define its roles and functions.

The Fire Services Council was established in June 1983 and provided a central training programme for local authority fire service officers which provided courses and seminars that complemented training organised locally by individual fire authorities. The Fire Services Council's term of office expired on 30 June, 2009 and no new appointments were made to the council after that date. The Minister announced that the work of the council would be absorbed into the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management. The national directorate was established on 22 June, 2009 and operates under the aegis of the local government division of the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government The establishment of the national directorate was in keeping with the desire to reduce the number of agencies while providing appropriate political accountability.

The Limerick regeneration agencies were established in June 2007, with a term of operation for five years to 14 June 2012. The agencies were established to secure the social and economic regeneration of four areas of Limerick city. This Bill will provide for the dissolution of the two regeneration agencies. Their functions will be taken over by the new office for regeneration which has been established in Limerick city. The regeneration office was set up initially with administrative support from Limerick City Council but will report directly to the manager designate of the new Limerick unitary authority once appointed. This post was recently advertised. The Bill, at sections 8 and 9, provides for a modest extension of the existence of the Limerick regeneration agencies from 14 June 2012 to the 31 July 2012. The orders under which the Limerick regeneration agencies were established contain so-called "sunset clauses" which will see them cease to exist from 15 July 2012. The short extension provided for in this Bill is to ensure an orderly transfer of their functions, assets and liabilities to Limerick City Council.

Irish Water Safety is relatively small, with six staff members, but it facilitates a huge amount of volunteerism in the area of water safety in Ireland. Its role is to educate people in water safety best practices. The agency also represents Ireland on the international stage. Under the provisions of the Bill, IWS can be dissolved and it is proposed that it be re-established under the amended 1971 Act.

An Chomhairle Leabharlanna, the Library Council, was established by the Public Libraries Act, 1947. An Chomhairle Leabharlanna has served the country well in terms of the promotion of libraries and library services, the co-ordination of training and dissemination of best practice and interaction with national bodies such as FÁS, SOLAS and EU and international organisations. However, it is necessary to amalgamate State agencies to ensure the most efficient delivery of all services. In this regard, the local government management agency will not only amalgamate the local government management services board and the local government computer services board but will also amalgamate the residual functions of An Chomhairle Leabharlanna.

Part 4 of the Bill contains three sections which will amend chapter 2 of Part 14 of the Local Government Act 2001, dealing with the position of city-county manager. I introduced these provisions on Committee Stage during the Bill's passage through the Dáil. They are relevant to the Government's local government reform programme and in particular to the reorganisation of structures in Counties Limerick and Tipperary. As Senators are aware, the Government approved proposals to establish single local authorities to replace Limerick County Council and Limerick City Council and North and South Tipperary County Councils by mid 2014. In both cases, the establishment of interim management arrangements, whereby a single person would oversee both authorities in the run up to full merger, was also approved. Existing local government law does not allow for such a position and this Bill amends the Local Government Act 2001 to provide that in the case of Limerick County Council and Limerick City Council the same person shall be the manager of the authorities and the same provision will be made in regard to North and South Tipperary County Councils. These provisions form an important early element of an evolving programme of local government reform related in this instance to reorganisation in Limerick and Tipperary. More substantive legislation will be enacted at a later date to provide for the establishment of a new unitary authority in these areas and the transfer of the functions and relevant finance, assets, liabilities and staff from the existing councils to the successor authorities.

I now turn to the main sections of the Bill. Section 1 contains the usual provisions of a general nature dealing with such matters as Short Title, collective citation and commencement. Sections 2 and 3 are standard technical provisions. Although no direct expenditure in implementing the Act is anticipated, it is prudent to include a standard provision.Section 4, or the amendment of section 2 of the Act of 1971, deletes the reference to "health board" as an authority to which this Act applies.

Section 5inserts an important amendment to section 3 of the 1971 Act to deal with the link between the policies and principles of primary legislation with bodies established by statutory instrument under the 1971 Act. When the Minister is considering the establishment of bodies the amendment will require that he have regard to such key issues as:the promotion of efficiency, effectiveness and economy; the resources available to the Minister or local authorities; and the desirability of reducing the number of bodies providing the services. Furthermore, the Bill would also amend section 3 by the addition of subsection 9 to clearly establish the types of services that are envisaged to be provided. Services included at subsection 9, paragraphs (a) to (k),include shared services, ICT, training and research and procurement.

Section 6an amendment of section 5 of Act of 1971, provides that in the case of a revocation order the Minister may transfer or distribute the property, rights and liabilities of a body subject to a revocation order to a Department of State, with the relevant Minister's consent. The 1971 Act already allowed for transfer to this Department, the agencies under this Department's remit or local authorities. Section 7 provides that the Minister may transfer the assets and liabilities of any of the bodies listed in section 10, namely, bodies to be dissolved. The Minister may make provision for the transfer of a body and its functions, property, rights and liabilities to the Minister, to another body, to a local authority or to another Department. If the Minister is transferring a body to another Department it has to be done with the consent of the receiving Minister. The Minister may also make provision in the transfer order to preserve existing contracts, the continuance of legal proceedings, the transfer of staff, arrangements for pensions, the preparation of final accounts or reports.

Sections 8 and 9 provide for amendments to the respective establishment orders of the Limerick northside and southside regeneration agencies. These amendments provide for a short extension to the existence of the Limerick regeneration agencies, from 14 June 2012 to 31 July 2012. This extension is necessary to ensure an orderly transfer of their functions, assets and liabilities to Limerick city.

Section 10, on the dissolution of bodies, provides that the list of bodies in section 8 are dissolved. The bodies to be dissolved are: the Local Government Computer Services Board; the Fire Services Council; the Local Government Management Services Board; the Affordable Homes Partnership; Irish Water Safety; Limerick Northside Regeneration Agency and Limerick Southside Regeneration Agency.

Section 11, which deals with the revocation of certain ordersis self explanatory. Section 12contains a provision that will allow the local government management agency, when established, to continue to carry out LGCSB and LGMSB functions in respect of the administration of the household charge. Section 13provides that An Chomhairle Leabharlanna, the Library Council, is dissolved. Section 14, a transfer orderprovides specifically for the transfer of the assets and liabilities of An Chomhairle Leabharlanna. The transfer will require the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. In addition, any transfer orders made will be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas and can be annulled by resolution within 21 days. Section 15, repeal and revocationis self-explanatory

Section 16 amends section 144 of the Local Government Act 2001 so that a single person may be appointed as dual manager in the cases of Limerick County and City Councils and North and South Tipperary County Councils. Sections 17 and 18deal with a number of related aspects of the position of manager to ensure that the new dual manager position is incorporated into pre-existing arrangements. Section 17 amends section 145(3) of the 2001 Act to provide that the provision relating to the automatic appointment of a manager, where a recommendation by the Public Appointments Service has not been approved by resolution of a council, would apply to a county or city council in a group of authorities, as in the case of Limerick and Tipperary. A new subsection (3A) is also inserted in section 145 which, in relation to the first appointment after the commencement of these provisions, allows the Minister to appoint, by order, a person who already holds the office of manager in a city or county that is part of the group of authorities to the office of manager of a group of authorities.

Section 18 makes a number of amendments to integrate the interim dual manager arrangements with the provisions dealing with the appointment of a deputy manager contained in section 148 of the 2001 Act. Section 18(a) provides that in the case of a group of authorities, the manager must consult with the cathaoirligh of both authorities concerned before he or she appoints an employee to be deputy manager. The amendment at section 18(b) seeks to cover circumstances in which the manager has become unable to act and no deputy has been appointed, or there is no current appointment, or the deputy manager is unable to act. Given the possibility for delay and disagreement in respect of an appointment in such circumstances, it is proposed to give the Minister the power to direct which one of the two cathaoirligh will make the appointment.

I look forward to discussing these provisions. I expect that we will consider constructive and helpful Government and Opposition amendments on Committee Stage. I commend the Bill to the House.