The purpose of this Bill is to extend the normal life of local authorities from three to five years and to postpone accordingly to 1955 the local elections which, under existing law, are due to be held this year.
The Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, which established county councils provided that the whole membership of each council should be elected in every third year. By 1920 this system had been extended to borough and urban district councils and town commissioners, replacing the rotational system under which one-third of the members went out of office every year.
The system of triennial elections has not been a success. The undesirability of holding local elections at such frequent intervals has been recognised on all sides and has been demonstrated by the number of postponements since 1922. The local elections due in 1922 were postponed four times and eventually held in 1925. The elections due in 1926 were postponed to 1928. The elections due in 1931 were postponed to 1934. The elections due in 1937 were postponed three times and held finally in 1942. And the elections due in 1948 were postponed to 1950. In brief, the Oireachtas has found it necessary to postpone the so-called triennial elections no fewer than ten times since 1922.
The result is that instead of having had ten local elections since 1922, we have had six, and the average interval between them has been something over five years instead of three years.
The Local Elections Bill of 1947 proposed that the normal statutory period between local elections would correspond more closely with the real frequency of such elections, namely, every five years. That Bill went through both Houses of the Oireachtas but two amendments made in this House had not been dealt with by the Dáil before the dissolution in 1948. That Bill proposed also—and logically —to postpone the elections of local authorities from 1948 to 1950. After the change of Government in 1948 only the proposal to postpone the 1948 local elections was proceeded with. They were postponed to 1950 by the Local Elections Act, 1948.
The County Councils General Council and the Association of Municipal Authorities have asked that legislation be enacted to provide that local elections be held quinquennially. Early this year the Executive Committee of the Association of Municipal Authorities asked me to have the election of members of local authorities deferred for two years, and I have received numerous other representations to the same effect. I accepted these recommendations and this Bill is based on them.
The Bill comprises 13 sections, the majority of which are consequential on the main provisions which are contained in Section 2. Section 2 provides that an election of members of every local authority shall be held in 1955 and in every fifth year thereafter, and extends the term of office of existing members of local authorities to 1955. Local authorities are defined in Section 1 as county councils, county borough and borough corporations, urban district councils and town commissioners. The actual dates for elections to the local authorities will be fixed by the county councils and county borough councils under the provisions of the Local Elections Act, 1927, and the City Management Acts, and must lie in the period between the 23rd June and the 1st July in each local election year.
The section contains a saver for the Minister's present powers under Part IV of the Local Government Act, 1941, to fix dates for new elections in the case of local authorities whose members are removed from office.
Some local authorities in anticipation of this Bill becoming law have omitted to make any arrangements for the holding of local elections this year between the 23rd June and the 1st July, as they are required to do by existing law, and instead they have appointed dates for annual or quarterly meetings in that period. Sub-section (5) of this section was introduced by way of amendment in the Dáil to protect these authorities and their officials by making such omissions or actions lawful on the passing of this Bill.
Sections 3, 4, 5 and 7 make consequential amendments in the Acts relating to school attendance committees, vocational education committees, committees of agriculture and harbour authorities, so that the years for elections or appointments to these bodies will correspond with the local election years.
Section 6 amends Section 45 of the Local Government Act, 1941. Section 45 provides that where the members of a local authority are removed from office a new election of members shall be held at such times as the Minister may fix within three years from the date of removal (except where such period ends within one year of the date on which other local elections are due to be held, in which case the new election may be held on that date). It is proposed to substitute five years for three years in Section 45.
Section 8 will extend to 1955 the current period of office of members of bodies which are required by law to be appointed by a local authority following an election of the members of such authority. It is designed to apply, for example, to boards of public assistance, joint drainage committees, and the Dublin Fever Hospital Board. It will not apply to bodies whose appointment is not connected by law with the election of local authorities, for example, bodies which are appointed annually, such as joint mental hospital committees.
Section 9 preserves from disqualification existing members of local authorities who may cease to be local government electors for the area which they represent between now and 1955. Section 10 provides for the necessary adaptation of other statutes and statutory instruments to enable them to have effect in conformity with this Bill.
Section 11 was introduced by way of an amendment in the Dáil and is intended to get over a difficulty which may arise if a local authority has stood on the letter of the law as it is. In a non-election year local authorities must fix a date between the 23rd June and 1st July for their annual or quarterly meetings—that is, the meeting at which the mayor or chairman is elected. At the moment local authorities are under no obligation to arrange for this meeting but as soon as this Bill becomes law they will be required to do so. As the time is so short it was considered desirable to provide that, where a council has not by the 23rd June fixed the date of its annual or quarterly meeting, the county secretary or the town clerk shall fix a convenient time for such meeting within the statutory period— which ends on the 1st July.