As the short title suggests, this Bill is concerned with Dublin and specifically with local government structures in the Dublin area. One can summarise its purpose very briefly. It provides for the establishment of three new county councils — Fingal, South Dublin and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown — to replace the existing Dublin County Council, Dún Laoghaire Corporation and Deans Grange Joint Burial Board. It represents the culmination of a legislative process which began in 1985 and which is being brought to finality by way of the formal establishment by this Bill of the new structures which will come into operation on 1 January 1994.
Given the relatively simple intent of the Bill, it is perhaps surprisingly long and complicated. This is because the Bill includes a large number of consequential provisions arising from the establishment of the new authorities and adjustments to other statutory codes. It also deals with a number of related issues, such as responsibility for local authority housing in Dublin, to which I will return later. Before going into the detailed provisions of the Bill I wish to make a number of general comments.
The 1991 census showed Dublin County, which stretches from Balbriggan to Bray and westwards to the Kildare and Meath borders, to have a population of almost 547,000. At the start of the century, however, almost the entire country was essentially rural. During this century the population of Dublin, including the city, has more than doubled, with growth being especially marked — involving an increase of more than half a million over 50 years — between the 1930s and the early 1980s. For almost all of this time the reaction to these demographic changes involved the city boundaries extending outwards in pursuit of the population growth in the county area.
From the 1930s onwards a combination of factors acted to promote development and population growth in the country. On the one hand, a programme of local authority house building at suburban locations allowed for slum clearance in inner city areas. On the other, a rise in private ownership, particularly from the 1950s on, accelerated a trend for people to move outward to new suburbs and beyond to surrounding towns and villages. New industrial and commercial enterprises also began to locate in the county.
Over the years there have been many proposals for reorganisation of the local government structures in the Dublin area to adapt to changing patterns of social, economic and population distribution. In this century, there were inquiries in 1926 and 1938, a White Paper in 1971, a policy statement in 1985 and a report of an expert committee in 1991. Prior to the 1985 policy statement, the general thrust of official thinking was in favour of an overall authority for the Dublin area — a limited form of which was recommended as early as 1926 in the report of the Greater Dublin Commission of Enquiry and a full blooded version of which was recommended in 1938 by the Local Government (Dublin) Tribunal and again in the 1971 White Paper on Local Government Reorganisation.
Parallel with these structural reviews, a number of enactments to implement boundary changes were passed in the first half of the century as the city boundary was outwards. In particular, the Local Government (Dublin) Act, 1930 provided for substantial boundary alterations, together with the creation of Dún Laoghaire Borough and the introduction of the management system in Dublin. Further city extensions were made in the 1940s and 1950s. The most recent legislation affecting Dublin was the Local Government (Reorganisation) Act, 1985 and the Local Government Act, 1991.
The current reorganisation proposals owe their origin to the 1985 policy statement entitled The Reform of Local Government which marked a significant change in official thinking on the subject of local government structures in the Dublin area and made the case for establishing three new county councils in Dublin and to replace Dublin County Council and Dún Laoghaire Corporation. It also proposed the establishment of a co-ordinating Metropolitan Council composed of nominees of Dublin Corporation and the new county councils.
The Local Government (Reorganisation) Act, 1985 gave effect to some of these proposals. In particular, it revised the boundary between Dublin city and county and established three electoral counties — the forerunners of the new councils — for which councils were elected in June 1985. The combined membership of these councils — 78 persons in all — constituted the new membership of Dublin County Council pending further legislation to fully establish the three new county councils.
The Barrington Committee was established in June 1990 by the then Government and its report was published in January 1991. In so far as Dublin is concerned, its recommendations were broadly in line with those of the 1985 policy statement, in that it endorsed the view that three new councils should be established in the county area, with somewhat different boundaries in the case of the authority based on Dún Laoghaire. The city was to be retained within its existing boundary and each of the new authorities and Dublin Corporation were to have their own city or county manager. The report also recommended the establishment of statutory regional authorities to promote public service co-ordination at the regional level including, the Dublin area.
The Local Government Act, 1991, which gave effect to significant elements of the Barrington report, provided and extended statutory framework, therefore, to carry forward the reorganisation process in Dublin which commenced in 1985. In particular it required Dublin County Council to establish an area committee for each electoral county and to delegate functions to them, provided for the appointment of three area managers, required the new area managers to submit to the Minister for the Environment a reorganisation report setting out arrangements to be made in preparation for the transition to the new councils, and provided that the Minister for the Environment could, by regulations, make arrangements allowing for the making of necessary preparations.
The statutory reorganisation report, prepared following consultations by the area managers with the relevant committees, was duly published in July 1992 and outlined the general arrangements proposed for the creation of the three new county councils. Broadly speaking, the three councils would operate as autonomous local authorities each providing its own services but certain services such as sewage treatment, waste disposal and water production would continue to be provided on a Dublin area basis.
The Dublin (Preparations for Reorganisation) Regulations, 1993, made by me under the 1991 Local Government Act, required the area managers to prepare schemes in general accord with the reorganisation report, which would have effect on and from the establishment of the new councils. The Bill gives statutory effect to these. These schemes deal with the performance of functions by one authority on behalf of another, the allocation of assets and liabilities and staff assignment, etc., to the new councils.
What I have said up to now represents one way of describing what has been happening in Dublin in the lead up to the Bill. Looked at from a different perspective and on a more general level, one can say the main problems which arise in the Dublin context are connected with the twin issues of providing an elected local government system which is of relevance and meaning to local communities, while at the same time ensuring arrangements are in place for effective major service delivery and planning. Any new arrangements must aim to improve on the present system while at the same time having due regard to overall cost considerations, value for money and the quality of service to the end-user.
The reorganisation proposed in Dublin will fulfil these aims and the proposal to establish three new county councils will, in particular, ensure more relevant and accessible local government with a sharper focus on the needs of the areas served. I think it is fair to say these proposals have found general acceptance as the best way forward both with the public at large in Dublin and at the political level. The elected members in Dublin are anxious to press ahead with the reorganisation process and the Dáil and Seanad have given their assent to the principle of establishing three authorities in Dublin, in enacting the 1985 Reorganisation Act and the 1991 Local Government Act; the Dáil has also approved the present Bill. Given the degree of consensus on the matter, I do not think it is necessary to elaborate further on the justification for this approach.
This, of course, still leaves the important issue of co-ordination of major services in the Dublin area which was raised by a number of Deputies in the Dáil. Given that the proposals in the Bill will increase by one the number of Dublin local authorities, the need for co-ordination is all the more essential and must be addressed. In this context not only are important provisions included in the Bill — which I will come to in a moment — but relevant action is being taken at the regional level to ensure the desired result. An order under section 43 of the Local Government Act, 1991 for the establishment of regional authorities will be made by me very shortly.
The three new counties and the city will constitute a single Dublin region and the surrounding counties of Kildare, Meath and Wicklow will constitute the mid-east region. The purpose of regional authorities will be to promote the co-ordination of public, including local authority, services and the order establishing them will provide for a significant role in relation to the review and co-ordination of development plans. Over and above the regional authority framework, section 32 of the Bill requires the three new councils and Dublin Corporation to co-operate and to have due regard to the needs of the overall Dublin region in their policies and programmes and enjoins the managers to ensure that necessary procedures are in place to facilitate this. Under that section, the four authorities must also have regard to any strategy, study or other statement of the Dublin or mid-east regional authority or any joint statement of those bodies.
The combined effect of the provisions of section 32 and the establishment of regional authorities will be to ensure that necessary co-ordination proceeds on an ongoing basis, as regards local authority functions affecting the metropolitan interest and within the broader regional dimension. I have every confidence that this represents a reasonable and realistic framework which will encourage and facilitate co-operation and co-ordination and that the elected members will act in the best interests of the overall metropolitan area in an effective and responsible manner.
This brings us to the detailed provisions of the Bill. Part I of the Bill contains standard provisions relating to the short title, interpretation and repeals. Section 3 deals with orders and regulations and section 5 deals with the construction of enactments. Section 6 deals with the implementation of the Act by local authorities, including actions by local authorities in anticipation and provision for directions for full effect to be given to the provisions of the Bill.
I should mention here that having considered arguments put forward during the passage of the Bill through the Dáil, I introduced a number of amendments on Report Stage which were accepted by the House and had the effect of limiting the powers in Part I of the Bill concerning making regulations and giving directions by the Minister for the Environment.
Part II deals with the establishment of the proposed county councils. Section 7 provides for the establishment day. Section 8 provides for boundary alterations to the city/county boundary and between the electoral counties. Let me stress here that these boundary alterations were recommended in the reorganisation report and are outlined in the explanatory memorandum and the reorganisation report. The section also provides for minor boundary adjustments arising from section 10(2). All these adjustments will take effect on the establishment day.
Section 9 provides for the abolition of, inter alia, the administrative county of Dublin and the borough of Dún Laoghaire and for the establishment of the three new administrative counties. The Irish and English titles of the new counties are set out in section 9, as is a procedure for the alteration of the name of any of the counties. This will involve an application to the Government by the relevant council following public consultation and on the basis of a resolution adopted by more than one half of the membership of the council. The question of the names of the new counties was raised in the reorganisation report but without any resolution of the matter — hence the provision referred to which will permit changes in the future if these are deemed desirable.
Following strong representations in the Dáil on the question of the most appropriate names for the new counties, I put forward an amendment which will require each of the new councils to consider the name of its administrative county within a year of the establishment day. I think that this is the most democratic solution to adopt given, in particular, the divided and strongly held views on this matter. Section 10 provides for the preparation by the Commissioner of Valuation of maps showing the county boundaries as amended pursuant to section 8. In this context, the commissioner is empowered, at the request of the Minister for the Environment, to make minor technical adjustments to the boundaries of the proposed counties which will take effect on the establishment day.
Section 11 provides for the establishment of the new councils. Each council will consist of a cathaoirleach and councillors and will have the powers normally vested in county councils. Section 12 provides that the members of the area committees will become the members of the new councils and the chairman of each committee will become the cathaoirleach of the corresponding council. The current chairmen of the area committees will, therefore, continue as cathaoirligh of the new councils until the annual meeting of the councils due in 1994. I also put forward an amendment to section 12 in the Dáil, following representations on the matter, to the effect that the chairmen of each area committee rather than the Minister for the Environment will, subject to meeting certain time conditions, fix the day for the inaugural meetings of each of the new councils.
Section 13 makes necessary provision for the management of the new councils and section 14 is a technical measure which allows for expenditure by the new councils prior to the adoption of their estimates in 1994. Part III deals with the dissolution of Dublin County Council, Dún Laoghaire Corporation and Deansgrange Joint Burial Board and makes necessary consequential provisions.
Section 15 deals with the dissolutions and sections 16 and 17, with the Second Schedule, with consequential arrangements, including transfers of staff. I have already referred to the statutory reorganisation report prepared jointly by the area managers which sets out the arrangements to be made in preparation for the transition to the new authorities and the schemes for transfer of assets, liabilities, etc, in accordance with the reorganisation report prepared by the area managers pursuant to the Dublin (Preparations for Reorganisation) Regulations, 1993. The provisions of the Bill, together with these schemes, will provide for this aspect of the changeover to the new councils.
Part IV of the Bill provides for the consequential adjustments to a number of statutory codes, ministerial responsibility for which rests with other members of the Government. The explanatory memorandum outlines the various arrangements proposed and the codes affected.
Part V of the Bill deals with a number of miscellaneous matters relating to local authorities in the Dublin area. Section 32, to which I have already referred, places a duty on the principal authorities to consult one another and to have regard to the metropolitan interest. Section 32 was altered in the Dáil on foot of an amendment put forward by me to clarify that joint meetings of the local authorities in the Dublin area may be held for the purposes of this section. Section 33 confers power on the new councils to repair branch water pipes, a power incidentally which has been available to Dublin Corporation and Dún Laoghaire Corporation but not to Dublin County Council.
Section 34 deals with responsibility for the supply of water in parts of the counties of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and South Dublin. Under the Dublin Corporation Waterworks Act, 1861, Dublin Corporation is responsible for the water supply network in certain areas outside the city known as "extra-municipal areas". The Bill proposes, therefore, that each of the new county councils to be established by this Act will, in common with other county councils, be responsible for the supply of water throughout their own counties and sets out a process to effect the transfer of responsibility.
Section 35 and the Third Schedule rationalise responsibility for certain dwellings and land in the Dublin area. Over the last 20 years Dublin Corporation has engaged in large scale housing construction in the county area. This has resulted in a situation where there now are almost 7,500 rented houses in the county owned by the corporation. Equally, but on a smaller scale, there are county council houses in the corporation area.
It is generally accepted that this situation is unsatisfactory and has led to particular problems ranging from deficiencies in maintenance and management to larger issues such as the undemocratic disenfranchisement of tenants of such houses, in that they do not have a vote in elections to the local authority which is responsible for the maintenance of the estates concerned. The reorganisation report highlighted this issue, together with the related issue of corporation land in the county, as matters which required attention and specifically recommended a transfer of ownership of houses to the local authority in whose area they are located.
Section 35 and the Third Schedule, therefore, should be seen against this background and represent an attempt to come to terms with a difficult problem in a way which will be seen to be fair to all the parties concerned. The explanatory memorandum sets out how these provisions will operate in practice.
Section 36 will rationalise responsibility for certain Liffey bridges and harbour walls, while section 37 is a technical amendment to section 63 of the Local Government (Dublin) Act, 1930, in relation to the form of notice served for the payment of rates. Section 38 will enable the transfer of fire staff from Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown county council to Dublin Corporation in the event that an agreement is made between the two authorities for the performance of fire authority functions by the corporation.
Section 39 contains provisions relating to the application of certain enactments in relation to the former borough area. Arising from views expressed in the Dáil, I moved an amendment to section 39 which provides in relation to the School Attendance Acts, notwithstanding section 21 of the Bill, a ready mechanism for the Minister for Education to allow for whatever arrangements may be decided for the operation of this service.
Section 40 is a new section which I put forward on Report Stage in the Dáil, arising from representations about the boundaries of the new administrative counties, which will provide a fast track procedure to facilitate any desirable changes agreed upon locally within a period of two years of the establishment day.
The First Schedule sets out repeals. The Second Schedule provides for matters consequential on the dissolutions of Dublin County Council, Dún Laoghaire Corporation and Deansgrange Joint Burial Board and the matters concerned are listed in the explanatory memorandum. Finally, the Third Schedule sets out the arrangements to give effect to the transfer of houses and land pursuant to section 35.
I have every hope and confidence that the arrangements proposed in the Bill, with the action proposed at regional level, will significantly enhance the local government system in the Dublin area, by on the one hand making it more local, democratic and accountable and on the other by ensuring that issues with metropolitan wide significance are looked at in that way, and by having structures which facilitate and encourage such an approach.
While no system is perfect, and at the end of the day must be judged on the basis of how it actually operates, I am satisfied that the arrangements and structures which we are putting in place represent a significant step forward. I appeal to the elected members in the Dublin area to use all the ideas and energies at their disposal to capitalise on the opportunities now being offered to work for the improvement of their local communities. I have every confidence that they will rise to the challenge.
I would also like to put on the record my appreciation of all those involved in the reorganisation process in the Dublin area including elected members, area managers, local authority officials and the trade unions involved who have cooperated fully in the transition process and without whose goodwill and hard work the process could not have been brought to this stage.
This is the first time this century that we have established a new local authority. The last new local authority was established in 1898. I pay tribute to the chairpersons, managers and those who served over that time in the old Dublin County Council and Dún Laoghaire Corporation. It is a time for change and I have outlined many of the reasons for that change. We look forward to the discussion in this House on this important Bill. By 1 January we will be in a position to go forward and make history for the three counties of Dublin.