The Bill proposes to make certain amendments in the Local Government (Dublin) Act, 1930. It is also proposed to provide for the incorporation of the Urban District of Howth in the County Borough of Dublin.
Section 101 of the Act of 1930, which it is proposed to repeal, 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 first tribunal made a very extensive investigation into the problem of joint services for Dublin City and County and submitted a comprehensive report on these matters towards the end of 1938. In their review of the conditions in Dublin City and County in the years 1935 and 1936 the tribunal had before them a record of development in the previous 10 or 15 years which was unprecedented in the history of the metropolis. Development in those years proceeded at a very rapid rate. There is no need for entering upon a second investigation of the same problems, 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 their opinion 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 for 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 financial effect of the merger will be slight both for the city and the urban district. The rates for the present year are 22/6 in the urban district, inclusive of a water rate of 2/4 in the £, and 20/9 in the £ in the county borough. The incidence of the rate on agricultural land in the urban district is likely to be higher when it is incorporated in the county borough, as it will then be rated as other agricultural land in the county borough to a municipal rate on one-half the annual rateable valuation.
Section 5 of the Bill incorporates the relevant portions of the Act of 1930, which are considered necessary by reason of the inclusion of the urban district in the city. The Bill incorporates provisions relating 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 pending; the collection of rates due or accruing to the urban district; the transfer of officers and employees; the award of compensation to officers by reason of abolition of offices, and the application and adaptation of enactments.
The Bill also repeals sub-section (3) of Section 53 of the Act of 1930. It 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. On a vacancy occurring in the office of city manager the Minister for Local Government and Public Health shall request the local appointments commissioners to recommend a person for appointment, and the person so recommended shall become thereby appointed by virtue of such recommendation to the office on a date to be fixed by the Minister. When the office becomes vacant the Minister shall also appoint a person to be city manager until the permanent appointment is made.
I should like to say a word or two about a matter that may have come to the notice of Senators. In a sub-leader in a Dublin morning paper, the suggestion was made that, in putting this Bill before the Dáil, I tried to slip something through with regard to this tribunal. I thought I made that matter perfectly clear in the Dáil. The person who wrote that article fell into the error of thinking that there was to be a revision of a tribunal every five years. That is not so. What the 1930 Act provided was that a tribunal to inquire into the position in Greater Dublin should be set up within five years after the passing of that Act, and that, in not less than three years after the appointment of the first tribunal and not more than ten years after the passing of the Act of 1930, another tribunal should be set up. That would mean that the second tribunal would be set up in this month. That was to be final. No provision was made, as the writer of this article seemed to think, for the setting up of a tribunal every five years to review the position in Greater Dublin. I made that matter perfectly clear in the Dáil. A tribunal was set up in 1935. It took a great deal of evidence, and it made its report in 1938. I am proposing to repeal in this Bill the provision that a further tribunal should now be set up. In the County Management Bill we provided machinery which will help to implement the findings of the tribunal which was set up in 1935, and which reported in 1938.
There is no purpose, I suggest, in setting up another tribunal when we have got only so far as we have got in implementing the report of the commission that was presented in 1938. That is why I am repealing this provision to set up another tribunal in this month. Then, again, the present is not a suitable time, not only to set up a tribunal, but to implement the findings of the previous tribunal.
