The re-establishment of town councils, abolished over a decade ago under the Local Government Reform Act 2014, is one of a raft of proposals outlined in the new Programme for Government. However, while this broadly supported move may work to bring Ireland in line with its European counterparts, there are certain logistical challenges to consider.
Ireland’s 80 town councils were abolished in 2014 under the Local Government Reform Act. This shifted financial decisions from town councils to county councils, slashed the number of councillors by over 40% and introduced Municipal Districts.
Describing local government as “the beating heart of our democracy”, the Programme for Government sets out plans to convene a Local Democracy Taskforce. The programme has put forth proposals on several areas, including the establishment of town councils “on a regional, phased basis” in large towns to “provide a focal-point for raising concerns of towns and coordinating town-focused activities.”
The Fine Gael/Labour abolition of town councils, which had comprised of 744 town councillors, followed the 2012 Putting People First plan by the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, which argued they [town councils] were “inefficient” and some of their work was duplicated.
However in 2017 Fianna Fáil said that the move did not actually result in the €400 million in savings as promised, while two years later Labour’s Brendan Howlin called for the restoration of town councils, admitting “it was a mistake”.
Mayo County Councillor Peter Flynn, who had served ten years with Westport Town Council before becoming a county councillor in 2009, told ‘Council Review’ that the two experiences are like “chalk and cheese”.
“We were paid a fraction of the salary we’re paid now, but more councillors represented more sections of society and people knew who their local councillors were,” noted the Fine Gael Councillor.
“Since council meetings are held during the day; dominated by either auctioneers, farmers, publicans or people that are retired or semi-retired,” he said, adding that “it isn’t balanced in terms of experience, expertise and qualifications”.
Cllr Flynn said that town councils were more efficient and accountable, as “money raised within the town stayed within the town. So, if you increased parking charges or rent, at least you go back to your business owners, or your residents, and say…‘This is where the money is going to go over the next five years.’”
He believes that the “unaccountable” chief executives in county councils have too much control, and because they are “not involved in the operational side of things, they really have no idea of what’s happening on the ground, so meetings go around in circles”.
Ireland’s system of local government has been speared as one of the weakest in the EU, with a 2023 Council of Europe report describing it as “one of the most centralised” countries in Europe. While the EU average for tax revenue spent at a local level is 23%, in Ireland it’s just 8%.
Scoring just above Moldova and Hungary on the Local Autonomy Index (LAI), Ireland also falls short when it comes to representation, with 5,196 people per councillor compared to 412 in Finland and 620 in Spain.
“The main reason we have the second lowest number of elected representatives in the EU is largely because of the abolition of councils, which were incredibly cost-efficient and representative of citizens’ needs,” Kilkenny County Councillor Seán Ó hArgáin told ‘Council Review’.
