OUR LOCAL government system is a mess and is grossly under-funded. A disconnect exists between the community, elected representatives and council officials. Decision-making is opaque. Accountability for mistakes made simply does not apply. Abuses of administrative power and perceived planning corruption by both councillors and officials have sapped public confidence. And yet, next month, the public will be asked to elect more than 800 councillors to this unreformed system.
Minister for the Environment John Gormley was supposed to have produced a White Paper on reform by last year. It was hoped a new local government Bill would provide a political framework for the coming elections. It has not happened. The Green Party's ambition may have outrun Fianna Fáil's appetite for change. Whatever the cause, the public has been left largely in the dark concerning the future powers and responsibilities of their local representatives.
Fine Gael's attempt to fill this gap by publishing its own policy document on the development of local government is hugely ambitious but worryingly short on detail. While its spokesman Phil Hogan envisaged the amalgamation of 53 independent agencies into local government structures and the total abolition of a further 42 agencies, no indication was given concerning the number of jobs likely to be lost in the process. Savings of €70 million a year were estimated. But the ability of local government structures to cope with the imposition of a range of new responsibilities is uncertain. It may seem a good idea to remove responsibility for housing the elderly from the Health Service Executive until the track record of cash-strapped local authorities in providing grant aid to those same people is considered.
Inadequate funding lies at the heart of local government difficulties. Three years ago, a government report estimated that, by next year, local councils would face a shortfall of between €415 million and €1,500 million. The report was ignored. While the Commission on Taxation has since been asked to examine the situation, nothing will happen until after the elections. Fine Gael has also avoided the issue, promising more autonomy to councillors for general fundraising in the context of the commission's eventual report. On local business charges, however, it has promised to freeze rates for five years
There are positive elements in Fine Gael's policy, such as the abolition of eight regional authorities and the merging of some development agencies with local government structures. It also recognises the need for a broader tax base. But granting councillors responsibility for all economic planning and development at local level appears somewhat hasty. Strict accountability is missing. While a directly elected lord mayor of Dublin will be responsible for policy, the county manager will execute the decisions taken. Which of them will resign, or be fired, if things go wrong? Local government systems have become self-serving and wasteful. Managers have grown too powerful. Some councillors have become corrupt. Comprehensive change is imperative.