Call made for clarity on potential return of town councils

A proposal contained in the programme for government for the incoming administration to return town councils has prompted a call for clarity on what powers and funding such bodies would have from the deputy mayor of Cork County Council, Martin Coughlan.

In the programme for government document, agreed between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Regional Independents and Kerry’s Healy-Rae TDs, larger towns are to get town councils “to provide a focal-point for raising concerns of towns and coordinating town-focused activities”. The proposal is to restore the town councils “on a regional, phased basis”.

This is one of the proposals which will be examined by a task force to be established by the government, with the aim of finalising “a programme for the reform and strengthening of local government”.

As far as Macroom-based Independent councillor Martin Coughlan is concerned, the discussion about the restoration of town councils, while welcome, needs to have a clear focus.

Issues such as whether the bodies would be returned with the same powers and functions as they possessed before their abolition in 2014, whether they would have a revenue powers such as striking a rate, and what their relationship would be to the current system which features municipal district councils alongside county councils, need to be looked at.

“If the town councils are to be restored, they should return with the powers that they had,” he said, warning that ‘talking shops’ would not be sufficient.

“For example you were able to strike your own rate for the town — obviously the local property tax will come into it now as that was introduced after the abolition of the town councils.

“Unless you have power over those things, you’re better off to have your municipal district.”

Gearóid Murphy, Mallow-based Fianna Fáil councillor and Seanad candidate, said it was “a good idea” to look at the return of town councils as part of a wider examination of local government in Ireland which, he pointed out, was recognised as the weakest system of local government across Europe.

“It was very easy to get rid of town councils, just a stroke of a pen really, it’s much more difficult to restore them,” he said, adding that the town councils before their abolition had not been perfect and there had been issues.

“Just to get rid of them like that was like solving the problem of a fly on the windscreen with a sledgehammer rather than looking at what was working and what wasn’t.”

There would be several issues that would need to be teased out, he said, including whether town councils would be separate bodies with their own elections as distinct from county councils.