John Paul Phelan, TD, Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, launched a new book from the IPA entitled Local Government in the Republic of Ireland on Wednesday 19 September 2018.
LtoR: Dr Richard Boyle, Head of Publishing, Research & Corporate Relations, IPA, Dr Mark Callanan, Author, John Paul Phelan, TD, Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, Guest of Honour, Dr Marian O'Sullivan, Director General, IPA.
Local government plays a vital role in Ireland’s system of government. But it is frequently undervalued and misunderstood. Members of the public often remain unaware of its impact on their daily lives until vital services such as roads are affected by severe weather conditions, or a controversial planning decision is made.
This book provides a comprehensive overview of Irish local government. It explains why local government exists, the geographical structure of local government areas, and the roles of the elected council and local councilors, the chief executive and local government staff.
The operation of various local government services such as housing, roads and planning is examined. The book outlines the important relationships that exist between local councils and other bodies, such as national government, regional bodies and the European Union.
The final chapters reflect on the strengths and limitations of Irish local government, as well as on the trends likely to be influential in the future development of local government.
The book also considers recent changes in the Local Property Tax (pp173-175), and new local government services such as economic development and enterprise support (pp. 154-156). Reference is also made to issues such as the ongoing debate of directly elected mayors (91-95) and the role of ‘city regions’ as drivers of economic growth in metropolitan areas (pp. 282-285).