LOCAL government should see itself as a service industry rather than as another arm of the State bureaucracy, the Minister for the Environment has told local councillors and senior officials.
Speaking at a seminar in Dublin yesterday on his programme for local government reform, Mr Howlin expressed regret that the entire media focus" had been on the issue of funding when the programme was announced last month.
He complained that the "radical" changes he was making to the way local government functioned, particularly in terms of enhancing the policy making role of elected representatives, had received hardly any attention.
His programme was "the single most important local government reform measure" for nearly a century. It set out to build a local government system that would be "sharper, more independent and more powerful".
Mr Howl in made it clear it was a "programme of decisions" rather than a position paper. "After a quarter of a century of discussion about local government reform, what is now being put in train is a comprehensive programme of specific actions."
Councillors would be given more power vis a vis county managers through the establishment of "strategic policy committees" each one dealing with an essential service, such as housing or planning.
When asked by Cllr Anne Devitt (FG), cathaoirleach of Fingal County Council, if members would be paid salaries as an inducement to attracting "new blood" into local politics, the Minister said only committee chairs would receive extra expenses.
The programme provides for the integration of central government funded area partnerships into the reformed local government system and for the setting up of "one stop shops" where people could avail of a large range of public services.
Asked about the proposed funding of local authorities through motor taxes, Mr Howl in said that because of the continuing increase in car sales this source of revenue would be more "buoyant" than the water and sewerage charges it would he replacing.
He said there was nothing in the programme which would diminish the role of borough corporations and urban district councils. However, members of these bodies complained that they would have no say in deciding whether motor tax would be increased.
