COUNCILLORS IN Kerry are to be allowed to attend area meetings outside their current electoral boundaries, raise issues and put down motions.
The move represents a compromise solution with management after several councillors complained they were being prevented from representing whole segments of the population until after the next local elections.
This is when the electoral areas will have officially changed following the recommendations of the boundary commission earlier this summer. The councillors most affected felt they were at a considerable disadvantage.
The boundary revisions in Kerry have already seen one casualty. The dramatic change in this area is at least partly to blame for the decision of Fianna Fáil Councillor Colin Miller, the constituency secretary of Ceann Comhairle John O’Donoghue, to not run next time out.
Because his electoral base west of Killarney was moved to Killorglin, Mr Miller, his family and neighbours will not be able to vote for him in June 2009.
A similar situation is faced by Cllr Danny Healy-Rae (Ind), whose home village of Kilgarvan was removed from the Killarney area and placed in Killorglin.
Until now councillors have been prevented from putting down motions on roads, water, planning and housing concerning their new areas.
Mr Healy-Rae said he had been “working in Castleisland” (which under the changes will now come into his Killarney electoral area from Tralee) and was “inundated with problems”, but was told he could not raise the issues at the council area meetings in Killarney until after June next year.
His area colleague Cllr Brendan Cronin (Ind) complained that when it came to planning, councillors were “going in three different directions” because of the changes.
They had been landed with the changes and had to be able to represent people, he said.
Local government legislation – specifically Section 50 of the 2001 Local Government Act in relation to the setting up of area committees – means that motions referring to existing areas can only be raised at existing area meetings, council officials had stressed.
Under the compromise reached with management, Mr Healy-Rae and other Killarney councillors are to be allowed attend the Tralee electoral area meeting as well as Killarney.
The new electoral boundaries announced in the summer will see a revising of all five electoral areas in Kerry.
Dáil changes are also planned. There have been complaints from some areas – particularly Castleisland which saw its long-awaited bypass “rescheduled” in the Budget cuts – that they have no clout because of their limbo state.