Council merger review ‘tainted’ by officials

The review of proposals to merge Cork city and county councils was “tainted”, with Government officials pushing for amalgamation, it has been claimed.

Documents released under Freedom of Information show senior civil servants repeatedly highlighted the positives of local authority mergers during the 2015 review of Cork’s local government structures.

They also sought to reword parts of the Cork Local Government Review (CLGR) committee’s draft report recommending a merger of Cork’s city and county councils, to highlight the benefits of mergers, and suggested “less negative wording” to minimise “ammunition for critics”.