Dáil Éireann debate -
Friday, 19 Apr 1929

Vol. 29 No. 6

Ennis Urban District Council (Dissolution) Bill, 1929—Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Stages.

Minister for Local Government and Public Health (General Mulcahy)

I move:—

"That the Bill be read a Second Time."

I want to recall the fact that after the inquiry in 1925 it was proposed to dissolve the Ennis Urban District Council, and the County Council was asked by the then Minister for Local Government to nominate three or four persons to carry on the work of the town. The condition of affairs financially in the town was such that the County Council at that time considered that no one but a full-time officer could deal with the matters that required to be dealt with there, and the County Council asked the Minister to appoint a commissioner. After some discussion between the County Council and the Minister on the matter, a commissioner was appointed. The statutory period during which a commissioner can remain in charge of the council's affairs expired on the 14th inst. Prior to that there had been representations from the Ennis people that the Commissioner ought to be continued for a longer period than the Act allowed. For instance, in April, 1928, when it was thought that an election would take place in Ennis in the following June, considerable representation of opinion was made to the Minister that the Commissioner's period in Ennis should be extended for five years. The legal position was fully explained at that time, and it was made clear that the council would normally be restored after the 14th April, of this year. The circumstances are that the full and proper steps having been taken in time to have an election setting up a council for the 15th April, of this year, no election took place. The matter was then referred to the County Council with a view to their taking the kind of action that, under Statute, they were empowered to take; that is, they were asked to appoint certain persons to carry on the administration of the affairs of the town until such time as a council was properly elected. The matter has been fully considered by the County Council, and yesterday I received from the Secretary the following wire: "Clare County Council, at to-day's meeting, declined to nominate persons to administer the affairs of Ennis Urban District, and unanimously passed a resolution requesting the Minister for Local Government to take immediate steps to appoint Mr. Commissioner Meighan for a further term, in accordance with the wishes of the Ennis people."

The matter was fully discussed on one or two occasions between representatives of the people of Ennis and the Department. Certain very great improvements have taken place in the administration of the town, certain improvement works are in hands, and it is felt generally by the people of the town that the Commissioner should be retained for a further period until they can make representations as to what changes ought to be made in the machinery for dealing with the town's affairs. On the other hand, the county council, as this wire states, are anxious to meet the wishes of the people of Ennis. I think we might also interpret the action of the county council as a continuation of their desire, expressed in 1925, to have the town's affairs dealt with in the best possible way. There has been by the Clare County Council a very genuine and disinterested effort to improve the administration of the town. That is very evident.

In acceding to the wishes of the Ennis people and to the wishes of the Clare County Council in this matter, I think we are doing the best possible thing that can be done at the moment for the improvement of the town's administration. The position from the point of urgency is that from the 15th April there has been no authority in Ennis to take any action on behalf of the council in the paying out of money or in dealing with matters of that kind. Having come to the conclusion then, apart altogether from what is the most satisfactory thing to do in the matter, that the legal position requires that the Commissioner's period should be extended, I propose to ask to have not only the Second Reading taken to-day, but to have the subsequent stages taken, so that the position may be rectified without any undue hardship to anyone, and without any undue confusion in the town's affairs.

Mr. de Valera

In the circumstances indicated by the Minister it is not our intention to offer any opposition to this Bill. Of course, the House will understand that in adopting that attitude we are in no way subscribing to the principle of government by Commissioners, and we think that the time has come when the Local Government Department ought to examine carefully the whole question of urban government and bring in a scheme to deal with it. There is another matter in connection with the Bill to which it would be just as well to refer at this time. In expressing a wish for the continuance of the Commissioner, I do not know that the people of Ennis indicated that he should be continued for any particular period. The time is within three years, and I take it that, as the Minister is acting solely on the representation of the people of Ennis, if at any time within the three years they make representations which would indicate that they wished to return to popular control and to have elected members, the Department will accede to their wishes.

Mr. Hogan (Clare)

I believe that the Minister has no other option but to do what he is doing in this matter. I should like to make my own position clear. I should like to say that my inactivity against this measure is not to be taken as subscribing to the principle of administration by Commissioners, nor do I take it that it should be taken that the people of Ennis are subscribing to the principle of administration by a Commissioner. I think I may say, speaking as Vice-Chairman of the Co. Council of Clare, that the Co. Council as a body does not subscribe to the principle of administration by Commissioners, but, in the exigencies of the time, the peculiar position, and in order to carry on administration in the urban district, they saw the difficulty as we see it here, and put up no opposition to this, and acquiesced. As to the latter portion of the Minister's statement, with reference to making representations as to what changes the people of Ennis might think necessary in the form of administration, I wonder would the Minister elaborate that, and let us know in what fashion these representations might be made to him.

General Mulcahy

In reply to Deputy de Valera as to the general question of urban administration, that matter is receiving a considerable amount of thought in the Department, but it is one that will require a good deal more thought before we can formulate any ideas with regard to it. However, the importance of the matter is being kept fully in mind. On the question of the length of time, representative Ennis people, in April, 1928, asked for an extension for five years. When they found themselves up against the Commissioner going a few weeks ago I think their entreaties would have been to allow the time to be extended, even for a year, but that would only be as if a year was the best thing they could get. It is more satisfactory, I think, to put in a three years' period, but I want to assure the House that at any time —and I would expect that an approach would be made to a solution of this matter at any rate from Clare before the expiration of three years —personally I am entirely prepared to meet the wishes of the local people to restore representative control of municipal affairs if that is their wish. The question of machinery will perhaps require further consideration. In reply to Deputy Hogan, I would say that the people in Ennis seem to have a rather effective and fairly widespread machinery for formulating their views on this matter. They held a large number of public meetings, and I think the Deputy must be aware that, amongst all classes and all parties in the town, there is a large number of disinterested persons thinking over this matter and prepared to discuss it amongst themselves. I do not want to make any suggestion as to how a group might come together in Ennis to discuss it. I think there are substantial groups in Ennis that have already come together to discuss it, and I am sure they will consider the matter further. If at any time the County Council wishes to enter into a discussion of the matter on their own behalf, or on behalf of representatives of the town, I feel that they ought to be able to formulate their views and send them on. Both the Department and myself are prepared to discuss the matter with the representatives of either the Co. Council or the people of the town at any time.

Question put and agreed to.