Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 October 2023
338. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in the context of the Local Government Reform Act 2014, if he will provide a schedule of functions of his Department that have been devolved in full or in part, or are in the process of being devolved in full or in part; the date on which the devolutions commenced; and if he will indicate whether any function was returned to the Department subsequently. [46585/23]
View answerThe Local Government Reform Act 2014 provided for major reorganisation of local government structures and the strengthening of governance and accountability in local government. Among other things it created an integrated county/sub-county relationship, with the establishment of a comprehensive and modern system of municipal governance; replaced existing regional structures with new consolidated regional assemblies; and provided for further devolution of functions from central level to local government.
Under the 2014 Act, important new functions were brought within the local government sector in the areas of local and community development, particularly through the Local and Community Development structures which enhance strategic planning and coordination in local and community development programmes; economic development generally, through a clearer and stronger statutory role for local authorities, including rural development and the formulation and implementation of local economic and community plans; and Enterprise support in the transfer of local responsibility from separate county enterprise boards to local authorities in the form of the Local Enterprise Offices.
As well as providing for new regional assemblies, the Act also included specific provisions for the development of new Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies to replace the Regional Planning Guidelines. Since then, the enacted Local Government Rates and Other Matters Act 2019 contains a number of new powers for local authorities in respect of the levying and collection of rates, while the Maritime Area Planning Act 2021 devolves a range of new marine planning functions to local authorities.
It is important to note that local authorities are entirely independent corporate entities, having full responsibility under law for the performance of their functions and the discharge of their governance and other responsibilities. Local authorities perform over 1,000 functions and services on behalf of some 30 central government Departments and public bodies under agreement, by convention and/or by legislative underpinning. At central government level, the locus of responsibility or accountability is determined by the nature of the particular policy or activity involved, not by the fact that it involves a local authority role per se.
In that regard, I, and my Department, have responsibility in relation to the local government system generally and for certain specific functional or service areas such as planning, housing and fire services. Responsibility in relation to policy, funding, legislation, and general oversight and accountability at national level in respect of a number of functions of local authorities’ rests with other relevant Ministers and Departments.
My Department does not maintain a schedule of the nature referred to in the question. However, the Local Government Management Agency maintains a register of services delivered by local authorities which can be found at the following link: services.localgov.ie/en-ie/Home/intro.
