Meeting sought amid council shakeup
A Nenagh councillor has requested a representative group meeting amid proposals to set up new municipal councils around the country.
A Local Democracy Taskforce report recommending the newly-structured municipal councils came before Government last week. Its likely implementation is seen as a step towards restoring Ireland’s town councils, all 80 of which were abolished in 2014. Unlike the old town council system, the proposed municipal councils are to represent all residents within their area, including rural hinterlands, ensuring equality of representation.
Tipperary lost seven town and borough councils in 2014 while the old North and South Tipp County Councils were amalgamated into one entity. The move reduced the number of councillors from 113 to 40.
A review of local electoral areas will be required to determine the exact number of new municipal councils, but the number of councillors is set to increase in line with population growth, and it is understood that they will have greater decision-making powers and budgets. It is envisaged that the new council system will be in place for the next local elections in 2029.
‘CASE STUDY’
Nenagh’s Cllr Séamie Morris has long been an outspoken critic of the decision to abolish town councils, a move he said brought democracy further away from people. He last week called on the Association of Irish Local Government (AILG) to convene a meeting in Tipperary.
He wanted the national representative body for councillors to “directly address local government funding” before this year’s budget process gets underway.
“Tipperary should serve as a case study for other councils, especially since our county was the most affected during the last reorganisation, with nine councils being amalgamated into one,” Cllr Morris stated in his call on the AILG. He wanted to share concerns he had following a recent response he received regarding a staffing review in Tipperary County Council.
“Frankly, the current situation illuminates a stark reality,” Cllr Morris wrote. “County councils are being asked to function with an impossible level of staff shortages. The Strategic Workforce Plan highlights that we’re short 148 staff out of a total of 716 indoor staff, with critical deficits in essential areas—for instance, we’re down by 26 in housing, right in the middle of a housing crisis. This is nothing short of unacceptable, especially considering that this SWFP only accounts for indoor staff. There’s a separate plan still to come for outdoor staff—an area that, as we all know, is equally under severe pressure.”
RECRUITMENT DRIVE
Cllr Morris said outdoor staff have told him that their housing budgets are “routinely exhausted by the end of the first quarter, simply due to chronic underfunding.
“We’ve reached a point where the council is being held hostage by grass cutting contractors who, due to a shortage of available providers, are not fulfilling their obligations. Some are unable to cut junctions on time because they’re prioritising agricultural contracts.
“This situation makes it clear that we urgently need a large-scale recruitment drive for outdoor staff on full-time contracts, coupled with a revival of apprenticeship programmes—just as we had before everything was handed over to the private sector.”
The Nenagh councillor said the situation is compounded by local authorities “being tasked with additional responsibilities”, such as supporting An Fóram Uisce, an independent statutory body advising on national water policy, which he and other councillors say they knew nothing about until this month, when they were told that body has been operating at the council offices in Nenagh.
Councils are also being asked to assist with “emigration settlement programmes”, Cllr Morris said, “all while grappling with severe staff shortages and relying on secondments to cover these extra duties.
“Without proper funding, Tipperary County Council will be forced to turn to ratepayers and tenants for increased charges, right in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis,” he warned.