John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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461. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his plans to review the boundaries for the next local elections; if he will introduce changes to the new districts established by the last reform initiative; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13826/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Programme for a Partnership Government sets out a number of requirements in relation to local government reform, involving a report to Government and the Oireachtas by mid-2017 on potential measures to boost local government leadership and accountability, including a commitment to consider reducing the size of local electoral areas. Work is proceeding on the development of proposals for the preparation of the report. An important input to this process is an initial operational review of the revised local government structures completed in 2016, which included surveys of local authority members and chief executives. The results indicated that the revised structures are generally operating well but will need more time to bed down fully and that there is some scope for improvements to certain aspects of the system.

The most recent review of local electoral areas was carried out from November 2012 to May 2013 by a Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee established under the Local Government Act 1991. Depending on the outcome of consideration of the mid-2017 report, any review of local electoral area boundaries would be undertaken in good time before the 2019 local elections. Any changes to municipal district boundaries which might be warranted can also be considered in that context as each municipal district is composed of one or more than one local electoral area.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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462. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the amount of money spent by his Department on the Waterford Kilkenny boundary report; the amount of money spent by Waterford and Kilkenny county councils in preparing their respective inputs to the process; if the figures include the number of person hours worked by all parties involved in the process; if not, if he will quantify this cost; and the next steps in the process and the time frame for a final decision. [13839/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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General expenses recouped to date specifically in relation to the Waterford boundary review committee amounted to €8,051. This recoupment was in respect of expenses incurred by the committee members. The members provided their time and expertise on a pro bono basis, and no fees were paid to them.

An amount of €70,460 was paid to the Institute of Public Administration in respect of their work in supporting all 4 boundary committee reports. Details of costs, including man-hours, incurred by the individual local authorities are a matter for that authority, and I have no function in relation to any expenditure they may have incurred from their own resources in connection with this matter.