Councils oppose proposed reduction

THE GROUP representing city and town councils has strongly opposed recommendations that the number of local authorities be reduced.

The reduction, from 34 to 22, is proposed to reduce exchequer funding of local government by €100 million.

Association of Municipal Authorities president Cllr Jim O’Shea warned yesterday that the report’s proposals represented a real threat to democracy. “They fly in the face of what is happening elsewhere in the modern world, and, if implemented, will only serve to worsen the disconnect between politics and the people,” he said.

He said the association’s members in cities and towns through the State were furious with the McCarthy report and would be voicing opposition to it.

In a statement, the association claimed that reducing the number of local authorities would effectively destroy the local government system in the Republic.

The creation of 22 monolithic authorities, representing rural and urban areas, would result in endless conflict between the two sectors over policy, finance and allocation of resources, it added.

The association argued that the proposed abolition of town councils was “profoundly undemocratic and short-sighted”.

The proposals, said the association, would lead to increased centralisation and inefficiency.