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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 26 Jun 1940

Vol. 80 No. 16

In Committee on Finance. - Local Government (Dublin) (Amendment) Bill, 1940—Second Stage.

I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time. This Bill makes provision for the incorporation of the urban district of Howth in the County Borough of Dublin and for the repeal of Sections 53 (3) and 101 of the Local Government (Dublin) Act, 1930.

Section 101 of that Act provided for the appointment of a tribunal to report on boundaries and joint public health services within five years after the passing of the Act, and for a further investigation of these problems by a tribunal to be appointed not later than ten years after the passing of the Act. The report of the first tribunal was received towards the end of 1938. It constitutes a very comprehensive documentation of metropolitan problems and contains proposals of a far-reaching character. As I indicated during the discussions on the County Management Bill I do not propose to deal at present with the main proposals in the report. There is no need for entering upon a second inquiry; and it is proposed to repeal the provisions of Section 101 of the Act of 1930.

The tribunal in their report did definitely establish the need for bringing the Howth Urban District within the county borough for administrative purposes, and that view was subsequently endorsed by the Howth Urban District Council. This Bill, therefore, proposes to give legislative effect to its inclusion in the county borough. The urban district is a favourite pleasure ground of the citizens of Dublin and the future development of the area and the preservation of its amenities should have an important place in city management.

The inclusion of the urban district in the county borough will involve a transfer to the corporation of the administration of the services relating to roads, scavenging, lighting, sanitary works, housing and other miscellaneous services. The services administered by the county council in so far as they affect the urban district, which will be transferred to the corporation, relate to the preparation of voters and jurors lists, the administration of the Acts relating to weights and measures, and food and drugs. The joint services under the control of the Dublin Board of Health relate to the treatment of tuberculosis, the school medical service and the welfare of the blind which will also pass to the corporation. The Howth Urban District is at present included in the Dublin Union area and its transfer to the corporation would make little difference in the contribution of the urban district towards union expenses.

The property, debts and liabilities of the county council and the urban district in respect of the above services would be the subject of adjustment between the county council and the corporation under Section 19 of the Local Government (Dublin) Act which is applied by the Bill. The financial effect on the city and the urban district will be slight. The rates for the present year are 20/2, plus 2/4 water rate, in the £ in the urban district and 20/9 in the £ in the county borough. The incidence of the rate on agricultural land in the urban district will be higher when the district is incorporated in the county borough, as it will then be rated to the municipal rate on one-half the valuation.

Section 5 of the Bill incorporates the necessary portions of the Act of 1930, the provisions of which are necessary by reason of the inclusion of the urban district in the county borough. The principal incorporated provisions relate to the transfer of property and liabilities; the preservation of continuing contracts; the continuance of bye-laws, of resolutions of the council, and of any legal proceedings; the collection of rates due or accruing to the urban council, the transfer of officers and employees; the award of compensation to officers by reason of abolition of office; and the application and adaptation of enactments.

The Bill also repeals sub-section (3) of Section 53 of the Act of 1930 and makes provision for the appointment of Dublin City Manager in the manner laid down in the County Management Act for the appointment of county managers, whereby the Local Appointments Commission shall recommend a person on the application of the Minister and such person shall by virtue of such recommendation be appointed to the position of city manager on a date to be fixed by the Minister.

I have no recollection of any intimation having been received by the corporation of the intention to bring Howth into the city area. My whole experience of the promotion of Bills for the extension of boundaries for the past 40 years has been that they always brought with them increases in rates and that these increases always remained. Before this Bill goes further, I think it should be submitted for consideration by the corporation, just that we may know exactly what we are taking in. In 1935, Rathmines was brought in and we found that we had to spend £25,000 or £30,000 in putting their waterworks into good order. For years there had been no proper filtering beds and the consequence was that Rathmines people did not know what they were drinking when they were drinking this water. From what I can gather, Howth township is not a substantial township. I do not know anything about its liabilities. Neither do the corporation, so far as I know. Before we are asked to pass this Bill, we ought to know where we are going. I understand from the Minister that it is not proposed to proceed until after the elections but the electors should know what is proposed. I have never had the imperial vision. I am sure that we have enough territory to govern in the corporation.

Mr. Morrissey

What about Dalkey Island?

Mr. Kelly

That is not in the city. It belongs to another township with which we have nothing to do. If that township was not in a prosperous condition, the chances are that there would be an agitation by the people there to have it brought into the City of Dublin. I am speaking from long experience. When the original Bill to extend the boundaries of Dublin was passed, the rates were very small. We got a present of Kilmainham, Drumcondra and Clontarf and the result was a big increase in rates, which has not undergone reduction since. There was a further increase when Rathmines and Pembroke came in and we shall probably have to meet another big impost in connection with Howth. It is only fair that we should know something about the position which will be brought about by this Bill. I ask the Minister to see that the corporation has an opportunity of examining it before it goes further and I think that is a reasonable request.

I endorse the appeal of Deputy Kelly for time to consider this Bill but I do not do so for the reasons he has advanced. The main proposals contained in the report of the Local Government Tribunal are not being put into effect and when the proposals were endorsed by Howth Urban Council, it was with the feeling that the report of the tribunal would be put into effect as a whole. I know the feeling in Howth Urban Area and I would be inclined to say that it is sharply divided on this issue. I do not think it would be right that the local government of 5,000 people living in an area which has been cut away—it is a sort of dead-end, if you wish—from the city type of local government should be decided in haste. I understand that it is not necessary to put these proposals into effect, if so decided, until the end of this year. I do not think that we should now rush this measure without the corporation and the people of Howth getting an opportunity to consider the proposals and to recommend certain improvements by way of amendments to the Bill.

I saw this Bill only this morning. It is necessary to have expert knowledge of the Bill of 1930 to appreciate what the changes are to be and how they will affect the lives of the people of the district. For that reason, I hope it is not intended to rush this Bill in any way. I do not see the necessity for doing so. Deputy Kelly is afraid of incurring liabilities. I think I can assure him that the corporation will not incur liabilities but that they will obtain assets. That area is a peculiarly difficult area from its physical configuration and, from that point of view, is difficult to deal with as a local entity. It is a seaside resort and a beauty spot. Opinions are sharply divided as to whether there should be building—perhaps intensive building—which building would be necessary in an area scattered over a hill of that type to provide the rates which would make economic the provision of water, sewerage and other amenities. There is a good water supply—perhaps as good as Vartry— which could be developed, and the rates have at no time gone to the exorbitant figure which they reached in other urban areas which have been more highly boosted. So far as liabilities are concerned, I can assure Deputy Kelly and the Dublin Corporation that the liabilities which would be taken over would be negligible. That is the result of wise administration and strict economy. Since the corporation feel that way about it and since the matter has been sprung upon the people of Howth Urban District who, after all, are the people mainly concerned. I think it would be wise to defer the Committee and other stages of the Bill until there is an opportunity of acquainting the people who will be most interested in this matter as to what is being done.

These proposals will have effects other than from the local government point of view; they will have effects on the lives of the people in that area. Take the business people, for instance. This urban district of Howth is a tourist resort, and the business people, in the main, rely upon the tourist traffic for a livelihood. In fact, during the summer time they have to make a sufficient amount of money to last them over the winter and to ensure in many cases that they will not have to dispense with their employees during the winter. That is a matter that would need adjustment because it affects the livelihood of our people so intimately. It is a matter that would properly be one for discussion amongst the people concerned and certain recommendations might be made that might be of help when amendments are suggested that, perhaps, could be embodied on the Committee Stage.

The Minister has indicated that this Bill arises out of the Report of the Local Government (Dublin) Tribunal which was presented in 1938. We are now in the year 1940, in the middle of an international crisis and it is at such a time the Minister sees fit to introduce a Bill of this character and to ask for all stages. It seems to me that such a request is extremely unreasonable. There has surely been ample time since the presentation of this report to prepare a measure of this sort so that it could be reasonably considered. We received the Bill this morning and we are asked to pass judgment on it now and give it to the Minister as it stands. He gives us practically no opportunity of amending it. I think such procedure is most unfair.

So far as the general principle of the Bill is concerned, I am in entire agreement with it. I think it is a good Bill. I look at it from the point of view of town planning and I think Howth should be incorporated in the County Borough of Dublin. I am quite sure the ratepayers also look at it from that point of view. We have a lower rate at the present moment than the Howth Urban District Council. Deputy Kelly seems to be unable to get the Rathmines waterworks out of his system. The fact that there was a flood shortly after the Dublin Corporation took it over, causing considerable damage, has always stuck in his mind, but I do not think he can blame the Act of 1930 for an act of God. It may interest him to know that the corporation officials have reported that if the present city supply were of the same quality as Rathmines, there would be an annual saving of £15,000 to the citizens because the destruction of lead piping would be much more slow.

To return to the Bill, the general idea is good. It is impossible to say on such short notice whether it could be improved and whether further acquisition might have made a better lay-out from a planning point of view. There has not been sufficient time to consider this matter adequately. The Minister referred to Part III, which has no direct connection with the rest of the Bill. He says that this merely enacts the same as was done in the County Management Bill. Do I understand him correctly, that this is in the same terms as a similar provision in the County Management Bill?

That is so.

Including sub-section (3), which gives the Minister the right to appoint a city manager pending an appointment by the Local Appointments Commissioners?

That is so.

The present system is that the Dublin Corporation appoints the temporary holder of that office. That is now done away with and the function goes to the Minister.

I admit that the notice was short in connection with the introduction of the Bill. When considering whether we should bring in this Bill or not, we were influenced by the fact that another tribunal would have to be set up before 15th July. That is the only urgency about the matter and that is the reason it is being rushed now, because of the Dáil being likely to adjourn. The Act of 1930 provided that a tribunal would be set up within five years and another some five years after that again. In any event, ten years have now expired and it would seem ridiculous at this time to be setting up a tribunal to go over the same ground.

Perhaps I might read for the House what the Local Government (Dublin) Tribunal reported with regard to the Howth Urban District:—

"It is evident that the present administration of the existing Howth Urban District is uneconomic and is incapable of being made economic. If the area which the urban district council seek to have added to the urban district, in order to constitute a northern coastal borough, were given to them, the area, as a whole, would still remain uneconomic. Services which have yet to be provided in the area applied for would prove exceedingly costly to any small authority undertaking them. It was stated on behalf of the Howth Urban District Council that the added area by itself would not be able to provide for such developments. We are disposed to concur with the view of the chairman of the Howth Ratepayers' Association, that the development of Howth and the adjoining areas is likely to prove a good long-term investment, having regard to the great increase in valuation which may be expected. The authority undertaking the investment would, however, have to be possessed of funds sufficient to enable it to wait for the revenue return which it would eventually obtain from the development of these districts. The Howth Urban District Council, or any local authority specially constituted to administer the Howth Urban District and their proposed added area, would not be able to do this. Now that the city corporation wish to retain the Raheny-Kilbarrack area they must undertake the drainage of the area. The witnesses of the authorities concerned agreed that the best scheme would consist of an intercepting sewer towards Sutton joining a proposed sewer from Portmarnock to Sutton. The city corporation would, therefore, be associated with the preparation of any sewerage scheme for the Portmarnock-Baldoyle-Sutton-Raheny area, even if no further additions to the city area were made in this direction. We think it is well established that the whole of the area referred to is in need of urban control and development. It is also clear that that development ought to involve a considerable degree of city control of the seaside places in this area, which are resorts of the city populace. A great portion of the district should be preserved as an open space in the metropolitan interest. There are thus strong reasons for recommending that the whole of the area should be brought under Dublin municipal control.

At present the Howth Urban Council get practically all their water from the city and, as has been indicated in the tribunal's report, there is an interlocking in the sewerage system and a scheme cannot be carried out there without an arrangement between the corporation and the Howth Urban Council. As I also pointed out, this place is being utilised by the city people, who go out there in large numbers. It is away from the city and you cannot expect a small local authority like that, with a total valuation of £26,000, and a population of 4,800, to carry out the improvements or create all those amenities that tend towards the advancement of a township of that sort. The city boundary at present goes as far as Kilbarrack. As regards the liability that Deputy T. Kelly is so much concerned about, I do not think there is much in that. The Howth Urban Council have had from time to time a struggle to carry on, but I think they have done it pretty well. They had to cut their cloth according to their measure. With the financial resources at their disposal, they have been unable to carry out schemes that would go a long way towards improving that district. Despite that, the council there seems to have carried on well. They carried on as best they could with their limited financial resources. I do not think the Deputy need worry about any big liabilities being handed over to the corporation. As a matter of fact, there is not much difference in the rates of the Howth Urban Council and of the Dublin Corporation. Therefore, I do not think the Deputy need be very much concerned about that aspect of the matter. If the people of Dublin want to get full advantage from a place like Howth, I think it is only fair to bring it in under the corporation. The corporation will be in a position to carry out improvements there. It can invest money there. As was mentioned in the report of the tribunal, it may be a long-term investment, but I believe the investment will be one that will repay the corporation in time to come. I want, again, to tell Deputy Benson the only reason why we are bringing in this Bill at the present time is that if we failed to do so we would have to set up another tribunal before the 15th July. That is the only urgency about this. Otherwise, I would be quite prepared to leave the Committee Stage over to a later date. I think it would be ridiculous to set up another tribunal at the present time.

Am I to understand that it is Section 101 of the Principal Act that sets up the tribunal?

That is so.

May I ask the Minister if the Howth Urban Council adopted a town planning resolution? The Dublin Corporation did adopt one. What I would like to know is whether, when this Bill becomes effective, the town planning resolution of the Howth Urban Council will be automatically transferred to the Dublin Corporation?

All resolutions and enactments will transfer automatically to the Dublin Corporation.

Question put and agreed to.
Agreed: That the remaining Stages of the Bill be taken now.
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