Waterford councils to merge in bid to save €9m a year

Waterford city and county councils are to be merged with a view to saving between €5m and €9m a year.

Environment Minister Phil Hogan will bring a programme for local government reform to Cabinet tomorrow which will propose, among other things, the unification of the Waterford councils.

It comes on the back of recommendations made by a committee set up by Mr Hogan to examine the feasibility of such a move.

The committee recommended that Waterford move to a single local authority structure, and a department source said Mr Hogan was in agreement.

While Cabinet approval is expected to be a formality, legislation will be required. A joint management structure will be established on an interim basis with full transition to a single authority taking effect from the local elections in mid-2014.

It follows similar moves by Mr Hogan to merge councils in Tipperary and Limerick, both of which will also take effect from mid-2014.

A source said the Waterford merger would save between €5m and €9m a year through the generation of efficiencies and the removal of duplication.

For businesses set to be affected by the merger, commercial rates will be equalised “down to the city level”, the source said.

The merger of the Limerick councils is expected to save up to €15m a year, and the Tipperary councils €6m.

Mr Hogan has previously insisted the rationale for unification “does not lie solely in finance”.

He said it should also bring about “stronger, more cohesive local government that is better positioned to promote the interests of the county and contribute to job creation and the recovery effort generally”.

The Waterford committee was chaired by Sean Aylward, the former secretary general of the Department of Justice.