Like draining the Shannon, local government reform is on the agenda but never happens, writes Dermot Lacey.
The Irish Times is a great newspaper. Its authority as "the paper of record", is self-confidently expressed and, in fairness, usually deserved.
However the opening sentence of the editorial "A good ruling for politics" of February 21st makes a significant dent in that claim. It also clarifies for me why local government has been the one big gap in news coverage in this fine newspaper. Quite clearly, the editorial writer at least, knows little if anything about how local government functions, or more accurately, is not allowed to function in this country.
How else can anyone explain the oxymoron of a sentence: "The Coalition Government's plan for the reform of local government . . ."
As a long-standing advocate for local government reform I only wish that they did have a plan, that they did have commitment, and that we did have a Department of State, led by a Minister who actually believed in his title, Minister for the Environment and Local Government.
It is one of the unfortunate truisms of modern Ireland that we need reform of our creaking, antiquated, underfunded and underdeveloped system of local government. It is a truism occasionally written about, often argued for and never implemented. Of course we need real reform, and of course we need councillors to take more responsibility.
As a city councillor since 1993 and more recently as lord mayor of Dublin, I have argued for such reform and acted in the best interests of this city when faced with difficult choices. Sadly, contrary to your editorial writer's belief, the record of this Government on this issue has been entirely in the other direction.
Contrary to the editorial, real facts unfortunately bear this out. There is no evidence of any willingness on the part of the Cabinet to give local government more power. The very opposite is clearly the case. Removal of powers relating to traffic, planning, waste, charges, taxis, and the list could go on, have all occurred during the last seven years.
The constitutional recognition of local government is a meaningless sop and would not have prevented Ministers Dempsey or Cullen abolishing Dublin City Council or any other local authority if they fail to carry out the Ministers' wishes on certain matters. If Mr Michael Ring TD proved anything in his High Court challenge on the dual mandate it was to show just how weak that so-called constitutional recognition really is.
Funding for local government remains deeply inadequate and has decreased in real terms over recent years. The "wide-ranging independent study of local government funding" promised by the present Minister, far from being under way, had not, according to the Department recently, even commenced. While awaiting this report the Minister might begin by paying Dublin City Council some of the €22 million owed for commercial rates on Government properties for last year alone.
While such a study is welcome, anyone serious about local government reform would want the report to be published prior to the local elections. This would enable a real debate to take place. Of course this Minister seems more intent on introducing electronic voting, raising election spending limits, imposing new demands and no new resources on local government than engaging in any meaningful process of reform.
The irony of a Minister intent on destroying local government serving as Chief Cheerleader for the Fianna Fáil local elections campaign is certainly not lost on this writer.
Some people believe that the role of local government is to implement the views and policies of the so-called Department of the Environment and Local Government. I do not. It is the job of Dublin city councillors to do all that is best for this city and its citizens. It is our job to stand up for Dublin, not to regurgitate the failed views and policies imposed on our city from the Custom House. The same applies to councillors representing other parts of our country in respect of their own areas.
The editorial, in passing, referred to the decision by this PD/Fianna Fáil Government to deny citizens the right to elect their own lord mayor council chairperson. This was due to come into effect next June. We should now, in fact, be in the early stages of a campaign for that election. If the UK government had done something similar in Northern Ireland we can be sure that these same paragons of democracy in the Cabinet would have cried foul. Yet they continue to get away with it here in this Republic.
The next local elections take place in about 100 days time. In this period, instead of propagating the myth of local government reform, The Irish Times might consider appointing a local government correspondent who could truly lead a debate on this issue.
The Irish Times has been at the cutting edge of so many great reforms in our country. It could do so again in relation to local government. Perhaps RTÉ might do something similar.
Dermot Lacey is a Labour member of Dublin City Council and a former lord mayor.