Certain Garda functions should come under the jurisdiction of local authorities, the Fine Gael leader has said. Policing should be restored to local communities, Mr Enda Kenny told his party colleagues.
The proposal was one of several in a letter Mr Kenny sent to more than 400 elected representatives in Fine Gael. Other initiatives designed to enlarge the responsibility of local authorities included the scrapping of the National Roads Authority and Teagasc.
He also called for the selection of "land banks" to make sites available to individuals and developers for housing, stating that regulations could be introduced to prevent "undue" profiteering.
In addition, he said the community care functions of health boards should come under the remit of city and county councils, as should the responsibility for social welfare.
"If for any reason an individual or family are financially unable to provide their own accommodation, it will become the responsibility of the director of community care to facilitate the provision of accommodation by way of shared ownership type loan," he said. "The repayments on such a loan will be based on the financial circumstances of each individual/family."
Mr Kenny also said the regional functions of IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and tourism promotion should also pass to the local authorities.
