Local government - Loss of role in planning is inevitable

Environment Minister Phil Hogan will announce a root-and-branch reshaping of local government today.

His proposals have been described as the deepest reform of our local authorities and how they interact with local politicians since the system was established in 1898.

Though the reforms are more important by far, it is vital too that this Government, as the Croke Park deal’s pay-and-redundancies veto becomes ever more contentious and unsustainable, begins to accelerate the pace of reform.

Though this Government’s term has been dominated by economic crisis and the euro’s great struggle it is important that they remember they were elected to remake how we conduct public affairs. The electorate has for many years been frustrated with the abuses and corruption evident in our public life, most especially in planning, and elected this Government to confront and resolve those issues.

The role these abuses played in the destruction of Fianna Fáil could not be underestimated either, a role that makes their new-found and convenient — in a Punch-and-Judy sense — opposition to a property tax laughable and hypocritical in the extreme.

The Mahon Tribunal confirmed the suspicions of corruption around our planning procedures so it is entirely appropriate that one area of development procedures be declared off limits for local councillors.

From now on councillors, those who survive the cull this legislation will initiate, will be unable to overrule decisions reached by planning officials. This practice, though wonderfully appreciated by supplicant, self-serving constituents and politicians who could use it to serve their own ends, debased our planning strategy and humiliated planning professionals who, it must be assumed, gave the best objective advice in the interest of the common good.

This facility was a privilege extended to elected representatives that, because it was so abused, could not continue. That this course of action became unavoidable is an indictment of our local politicians and the culture of clientelism that expected them to bend the rules to facilitate inappropriate development.

Some of those living on flood plains who cannot get home insurance might take a moment and ask if the politicians who had planners overruled to allow these developments go ahead should be admired or dumped like a flood-sodden carpet at the next election.

Various authorities are to be amalgamated and it is hard to say anything about this other than it is overdue. It is entirely appropriate too that there be a significant reduction in the number of councillors presiding over various fiefdoms around the country. The number of county and town councillors will be reduced from 1,627 to 950. This, in tandem with a very moderate reduction in the number of Dáil members, will move our ratio of citizen to representative in the right direction. Mr Hogan’s proposals include measures that will make up to 500 council staff redundant. Local government staffing has been reduced by 8,500, almost a quarter of staff, in the past five years. It is hoped that these latest redundancies will save €24m.

Let us all hope that the legislation, when it is published in full, can be made as welcome as the proposals already revealed.