The devil is in the detail

BIG Phil Hogan isn’t into semantics. Neither, it seems, does he court political popularity, even within the ranks of his own Fine Gael party or among his Labour colleagues in Government.

Recently, he provoked the chagrin of Clare County Council when he threatened to penalise the local authority €974,524 in their overall allocation of €10.1 million from the Local Government Fund because of the level of compliance in the collection of the controversial household charge.

 

It led to a united front within the political establishment of Clare County Council, as councillors of all political persuasions railed in condemnation of Big Phil effectively holding them to ransom.

The irony of that decision is that the local authority was being hammered for something that was outside their remit. Responsibility for collecting the household charge had initially been placed on the lap of the Local Government Management Agency.

Mandated to drag the system of local government into the 21st century so that it delivers more to the community, Big Phil came up with a controversial blueprint, one that has stimulated a robust backlash to the proposed overhaul.

Under his controversial Putting People First reform, Big Phil’s proposals will herald significant changes to regional, county and town governance. The flip side of the coin is that the radical proposals will save the taxpayer an estimated €420m over the next four years.

In the last local elections, Fine Gael made unprecedented political gains in town and county councils, not just in Clare but also across the country but in one fell swoop, he will wipe the slate clean.

Under his radical reform, the first overhaul of local government in over 100 years, Minister Hogan is to abolish the town councils in Ennis, Shannon, Kilkee and Kilrush, all of which have nine sitting members, and pare back the number of county councillors from 32 to 24. The demise of town councils will herald the arrival of new municipal districts and councillors will be elected simultaneously to the municipal districts and the county council.

Many people will regret the abolition of town councils. Ennis, Kilrush and Kilkee Town Councils have been an integral part of the political landscape for over a century, while Shannon Town Council mushroomed a few decades ago following the natural evolution and growth of the new town.

These town authorities are part and parcel of community life and the importance people attach to local politics can never be underestimated. While they may lack legislative clout in a lot of key areas, they have, nevertheless, played an important role in the infrastructural and social development of the communities they represent.

Perhaps Minister Hogan should have examined the merits of removing the financial benefits of being a sitting town councillor and, instead, retained town councils on a completely voluntary basis. Politics is local and meaningful community participation in local decision-making is key to democracy.

While county councillors have criticised measures to reduce their numbers in the council chamber, their anger has been exacerbated at the removal of their power to overturn planning decisions.

Heretofore, councillors could invoke a section of the 2001 Local Government Act to overturn a decision of the county manager or planning officials. They will no longer be permitted to direct the council executive in respect of planning functions.

The step has been taken after evidence given to the Mahon Tribunal regarding corruption among councillors in the planning process, which has dogged the political system for decades. While their planning powers may be diminished, councillors will be involved in deciding the rate of property tax.

Clare county councillors will have responsibility for the property tax and the amount that will be levied in the county. Money from the tax will be ring-fenced to fund services. The role and functions of elected councils will also be widened, with a greater involvement in economic development and enterprise support.

Justifying that decision, Minister Hogan said international best practice suggests that local services should, as far as possible, be locally funded and that was the rationale for the property tax.

Nationally, the measures will see local councillors cut by 677 or by 42% from 1,627 to 950, while the number of councils will fall by 83 from 114 to just 31. Five hundred local authority workers will also be made redundant over the next 18 months. Local authority managers are to be replaced by chief executives, who will be responsible to the elected members.

The level of redundancies in Clare the reform will bring about remains to be seen. That lack of clarity merely serves to heighten the anxiety and concerns of staff, uncertain of what the future holds.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has defended the shake-up, declaring that the new local government plan is “one of the most radical, ambitious and far-reaching governance reform plans ever put forward by an Irish government”. However, his views didn’t resonate with some of Clare’s elected members.

Local town councils have condemned the plan as a “blow for democracy” and have questioned the relatively small savings that may be made from not paying representative allowances to 36 town councillors.

Mayor of Ennis Councillor Peter Considine stressed his outright opposition to the abolition of Ennis Town Council, describing it as “a regressive step”.

He stressed town councils are more in touch with the needs of local communities than representatives could be in a new district authority. He also warned the new structure could see some conflict between councillors in urban and rural areas when it came to prioritising projects or funding in the new district.

“As a result of Minister Hogan’s decision, I hope that in 15 to 20 years time Ennis will not be seeking assistance regarding the establishment of a regeneration project for the town,” Mayor Considine declared.

“A devastating blow” was how Kilrush Mayor Mairéad O’Brien described the abolition of Kilrush Town Council, while her Shannon counterpart, Michael Fleming, described the move “as a bad day for local democracy”.

“Minister Hogan should have a total rethink about this plan before it has a terrible effect on local democracy,” he said.

Over the coming weeks and months, Minister Hogan will run the gauntlet and like with every new development, the devil is in the finer detail. The big question is how will Clare County Council be financed and will their finances be put on a proper footing?

Only time will tell.