Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 February 2013
147. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government further to his statement in Putting People First (details supplied), the progress made in devolving power to elected members; the powers which will be devolved from managers to elected members; and the time frame for this process. [5408/13]
View answerOne of the fundamental aims of the Government’s Action Programme for Effective Local Government is to bring decision making closer to citizens and to create more meaningful and responsive local democracy.
It is the objective of the Action Programme to assert the primacy of the elected members and to rebalance the role of the council in relation to the present position of county manager. Accordingly, in reviewing these powers and functions, my preferred position will be to devolve power to elected members. This will include a change in the relationship between manager and members to one of chief executive and “board of directors”, appropriate to a modern system of administration.
In relation to the reserved functions of elected members, a number of new reserved functions are specified in the Action Programme, for example, the adoption of economic development plans, service plans, and local and community plans. In addition, the scope for further extension of the reserved functions of elected members of local authorities, and the assignment of these functions as between the county and municipal district levels, will be fully reviewed in the context of further development and implementation of the reform programme. The local government reform programme is a high priority for Government as a key element of the overall reform agenda, and while I am not in a position to provide definitive timing details for the legislation, it will be brought forward for enactment in good time before the 2014 local elections.
