OPINION: Local Government – Irish style

One of the downsides for National governments of being a member of international organisations (the EC, OECD, the Council of Europe) is that they submit to regular audits of how they are performing and whether their actions are consistent with those required of members. Audits are submitted to governments in draft form for observations, and provide opportunities to moderate the most damning criticisms, or address them by actions or reassuring platitudes.
When you read a report where serious criticisms make it to the published version, you know that something is rotten in the State of Ireland. I have in mind the report issued in October 2023 by the Council of Europe (COE), entitled ‘Monitoring of the application of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in Ireland’. Since we have just had local elections, this is an opportune moment to reflect on its findings.
The Local Government Reform Act of 2014 was the last major change to our system of local governance. Before 2014 the system consisted of 29 counties, 5 cities, 5 boroughs and 75 town councils. The 2014 Act abolished town councils and boroughs and established 26 county councils, city councils in Dublin, Cork and Galway, and two combined city and county councils (Limerick and Galway), with a further sub-division into municipal districts (Mayo is divided in four: Ballina, Castlebar, Claremorris-Swinford and Westport-Belmullet). Territorially, Irish local authorities are the largest in Europe with an average size of 2,200 square kilometres. In terms of population, the average is 165,000, the highest in the EU.

Limited functions
The COE monitors found that the range of functions of Irish local government is more limited than in practically all other EU members. They noted the excuse offered: that central government lost trust in the ability of local government to carry out a wider range of functions in an effective and efficient way and that local councillors had a too parochial focus which reduced their ability to make bold strategic decisions. The roots of centralisation could be traced back to the Civil War, where it became the means of curbing tendencies of the losing party to re-establish its influence over parts of the country.
The limited range of functions and low central government trust in local government was reflected in its share of total national public expenditure of 8 percent, among the smallest in the EU, well below the EU average of 23 percent. The position of local government in Ireland is one of the weakest of all European countries, it has a more limited set of functions, represents a smaller share of public affairs and can only marginally influence the size of its resources. Using an autonomy index that measures the state of EU local governments, Ireland has the second lowest score. The monitors concluded that since local government does not manage a substantial share of public affairs under their own responsibility, Ireland violates Article 3.1 of the COE Charter.
The excessively strong position of Councils’ chief executives also limits the role of the elected representatives. The monitors noted that the practical relationships between the elected council and the chief executive varied from close co-operation and understanding to almost living in separate worlds. On the basis of the reporting in this newspaper, relationships in Mayo County Council are often at the ‘separate worlds’ end of the spectrum.
Most worryingly, there is no mention in the Constitution of the types of local authorities that are protected and whole tiers of local government can be abolished through a decision of the Oireachtas, as in the 2014 ‘reform’. The peculiar nature of local government in Ireland was further illustrated by the fact that there is no formalised and regular process for consultations with local government during the national policymaking process.

Ad hoc basis
Although councillors and officials are often invited to pre-legislative scrutiny sessions by the joint Oireachtas committees, and the Minister may ask local government associations for advice, this is informal and carried out on an ad hoc basis.
When the COE monitoring delegation visited the Custom House in Dublin, HQ of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, it was informed that ‘local government has been administrated and supported from this house for 200 years’. The house was used by the British as the location where local government in Ireland was controlled, but after independence also by the Irish central authorities. This was a telling way of expressing how central government views local government – something that is administrated and not primarily regarded as self-governing units.
This system of central direction and oversight was characterised by the COE as ‘a system of local government that is a combination of local self-government and state administration offices, under one roof’. Just as Minister Grigory Potemkin would construct mock village facades to delude Russian Empress Catherine the Great during her rural tours that life was better than it actually was, Ireland has a kind of Potemkin form of local government. Its structure and organisation look and sound real, but it all falls apart under close scrutiny. The COE report was damning and its findings, helping to explain the wretched and disorganised state of regional development planning in Ireland.
But don’t expect any genuine reforms are likely to be on policy agendas of the main Irish political parties. The consequences of Civil War politics still prevail, with especially dire consequences for the North West region.

MORE Read the Association of Irish Local Government's article on the Council of Europe's report here, where the full report can also be accessed.

John Bradley is a former ESRI professor and has published on the island economy of Ireland, EU development policy, industrial strategy and economic modelling.