Local government in Ireland is a hang-over from Imperial rule by Britain. It is bureaucratic, unresponsive, over-ridden with officialdom and designed to stop local authorities from acting on their own initiative or pursuing their own policies.

It would make Sir Humphrey Appleby smile with joy to behold such a system whereby people power and the power of the councillors is so controlled and regulated that it is almost impossible to achieve anything without the approval of management.

The council system is, in theory, supposed to allow the people to select their representatives and put them in office to carry out their policies. The elected councillors then agree on the council's policy and make decisions based on it on issues such as Housing, Transportation and Planning.

The reality is very far from that. In truth council management has its own policies which are a combination of central Government wishes and directives, policies of the County and City Managers Association and the officials own personal views or prejudices on issues. If any, or a combination of these clash with the policies or goals of the councillors then they will be blocked - end of story. But how? There are several different ways to block councillors and their policies.

1. Councillors have very little power (individually they have no power at all and this includes the Cathaoirleach/Mayor). [See Appendix below]
2. Management have sweeping powers in every area. [See Appendix below]
3. The ending of domestic rates (an unfair system) left local authorities at the mercy of central government for funds. Funding is so ring-fenced that councils actually have very little money at their disposal for projects, unless there is a central government fund for their project (and thus central government approval) they can't really do anything.
4. Legally councillors can be held personally responsible for their policies i.e. if the councillors were to spend money or take a course of action outside of management approval they can be found liable for any losses or damages as a result. They can loose their homes. It is important to note that this does not apply to officials, however incompetent.
5. Divide and conquer. As each council has members from different political parties it is easy to divide the councillors especially on big issues that management want to block. It is not unheard of for management to telephone individual councillors before meetings and suggest reasons for opposing the issue. Of course individual councillors need management's goodwill to get playgrounds for their areas, potholes filled etc.

The truth is that management have powers over council policy that would be the envy of Soviet Commissars and the people know it.

The growing lack of involvement in democracy and falling voter numbers in Ireland stems from the lack of democracy in local councils. If people cannot effect real change in their town council what confidence have they in changing national policy.

As Eamon Gilmore TD has said "Councillors have lost the power to make road plans, waste management plans, waste charges and most planning functions. City and county managers have been given new powers which are bordering on the dictatorial. Ultimately it was the people who had been left powerless under the present system of local government, which is neither democratic nor local."

In 2000 Fianna Fail planned to bring in legislation which would give us directly elected mayors. However even this was watered down from an originally planned empowerment of these new mayors. Why? On February 5 2000 the Irish Times reported "Some time ago, city and county managers made it clear they would oppose moves to curtail their powers." Noel Dempsey continued on with proposals for a weaker form of directly elected mayors but his successor Martin Cullen dropped these altogether and we are left with what Vincent Browne terms "toytown mayors" who rotate the office on an annual basis.

Why don't councillors create uproar? If councillors were to highlight their ineffectiveness it would only undermine their positions and public confidence further. The Emperor has no clothes.

Of course there are a sizable number of councillors who don't want to change the system. They are comfy getting the chair every couple of years and dread the thought of someone being elected as Mayor for five years. But if dynamic people with something to offer are to be attracted to take part in local government then reform is urgently needed.

What is to be done? It is time to reform the system altogether. It is time to reduce management to the task of managing not directing the course of the council. We need to introduce Directly Elected Mayors with these executive powers into all the local authorities in Ireland. Every town, borough, city and county council should be lead by a directly elected and thus directly accountable individual. This would make council policy open and accountable to the people and restore their faith in local government.

What we need is real local government through real decentralisation i.e. the devolution of Government functions to regional and local authorities. These would include school building, school transport, the distribution of lottery funds, employment services and training, rural development, social welfare services and coastal zone management. There should be new legislation to make providers of public services accountable to local councils.

Key steps in reforming local government would be

1. Giving councillors control over local policing, school building, social welfare services and other functions.
   
2. Local control over financing of local services.
   
3. Directly- elected mayors.
   
4. New council chief executives to replace existing management and who would be subject to policy decisions by councillors.

There is a perception out there that only large cities can benefit from having a powerful directly elected Mayor but surely towns like Westport, Co. Mayo are every bit as entitled to democratic local government. The implementation of Directly elected Mayors and local government reform is about putting the power back in the hands of the people, about giving the towns, cities and counties leadership and making local government relevant and democratic in the 21st century.

For more information on Labour's plans for Local Government Reform read the New Councils paper.

Appendix

The powers of councillors are known as 'Reserved Functions'. These are the functions performed by the councillors by resolution at their meetings.

• adopting the annual budget
• setting the rates
• borrowing money
• making or varying a development plan
• making a special amenity area order
• adopting a scheme of letting priorities
• making, revoking or amending bye-laws
• bringing enactments into force
• nominating persons to various committees bodies
• nominating a candidate to the Presidency

Management powers are known as 'Executive Functions'. These are defined in law as all functions not listed as 'Reserved Functions'. These include

• staffing, all staff are answerable to the manager
• court action and legal advice, management has access to free legal advice and aid to support their recommendations and of course their policies
• acceptance of tenders
• collection of rents and rates
• allocation of lettings for local authority housing
• allocation of affordable housing
• day to day decision making

Executive Functions give management massive sweeping power and influence over the councillors and the enactment of policy within the council.