Seanad Public Consultation Committee notes Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities Report on Monitoring of application of European Charter of Local Self-Government in Ireland

As part of these hearings, the Committee plans to explore the observations and recommendations of the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (CLRAE) Report on the Monitoring of the application of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in Ireland, which noted that local government is ‘weaker in Ireland than in most other European countries’.

The Committee is also studying the areas of concern raised in the report, and the recommendations put forward to address them, such as transferring more functions to local authorities, the introduction of a formal and regular consultation process, and increasing the amount of own resources available to local authorities, with the goal of identifying potential solutions. The hearings will also allow the Committee the opportunity to further explore matters raised in submissions it has received.

Welcoming the Report, Committee Chairperson, Senator Mark Daly said: “The Committee recognises the relevance of this report in informing the work we are currently undertaking, and that it echoes many of the broad concerns that underpinned its decision to launch this public consultation. While the report does express satisfaction with certain elements of the Irish local government system, it has also identified areas which could be improved, and I look forward to exploring possible solutions to addressing these areas in the coming months.”

Senator Daly added: “Our Committee is acutely aware that there is genuine ambition to reform the system of local government. We have seen that new functions have been transferred to local authorities with the main strategies put forward for increasing local democratic control over local matters being the introduction of municipal districts and the country’s first direct mayoral election, the latter of which will take place in Limerick in 2024.”

This Report was compiled following two monitoring visits to Ireland which took place in April and May by a committee of local government officials and elected members from across the Council of Europe, led by rapporteurs Vladimir Prebilic (Slovenia) and Gunn Matt Helgensen (Norway). Two previous monitoring visits to Ireland took place in January and March 2001 and in October 2012 and May 2013.

The Irish Government signed the European Charter of Local Self Government in 1997 and ratified it in 2002. The inspection visits this year are part of a schedule of regular visits which representatives of the CLRAE undertake to ensure that Ireland is meeting the obligations it signed up to in relation to local government.

Committee Rapporteur Senator Shane Cassells said: “The Seanad Public Consultation Committee would like to emphasise that even though the Report details that the position of local government is weaker in Ireland than in most other European countries, it also notes that local authorities strive to remain strongly connected to their citizens and that they ‘provide services of good standard’. However, its recommendations have also highlighted that there is still work to be done in a range of areas, including the functions and resourcing of local authorities.”

The Seanad Public Consultation Committee was established as part of new procedures to open access to Seanad Éireann and its work. The Committee invites submissions from members of the public and interest groups on specific issues and holds public hearings in the Seanad Chamber. The Committee then issues a report.

Read more about the work of the Seanad Public Consultation Committee on the Oireachtas website.