OPINION: Consolidation of local government will ensure accountability, writes JOHN FITZGERALD
IRELAND IS unique in not having an effective tier of local or regional government, with local funding arrangements for the delivery of local services. With the exception of the fairly narrow range of services provided by local government, public service provision is largely centralised within government departments and “decentralisation” has, perversely, consolidated this situation. The need for effective devolution of functions from central to local has been acknowledged for years, but nothing of substance has been done about it.
Now is the time to consolidate local government into a smaller number of more powerful units, run by competent managers, to take responsibility for delivering local services. Most public services are local if you include schools, police, non-hospital healthcare, employment services, social welfare and all the other things people relate to daily.
The model that works in most other jurisdictions bar ours is one in which all local services are provided by a local administration, led by an individual who is accountable to the local community and reporting to a board which is small enough to be decisive.
The last thing we need is governance through an unwieldy elected body that is programmed to avoid hard decisions. The introduction of directly elected mayors without a fundamental reorganisation of the functions and services for which a mayor has direct responsibility will not achieve the required changes.
Chief executive selection through the existing public service recruitment system, while providing transparency, leans towards candidates who are “safe” and away from those who are dynamic. At present, we need more of the latter.
Most communities lay the problems of their local public services at the door of the minister because they cannot find local accountability. At present, every community wants more services because they believe it will be paid for by someone else.
The introduction of a property tax, which has to happen, provides an opportunity to return to local taxation and the accountability that automatically follows. Property taxes should be collected locally and applied to funding local services with a reduction in the central grants that fund a large part of local government spending. In this way, a locally accountable body has the incentive to deliver services efficiently in the knowledge that resultant savings can improve local services.
The recent report of the Limerick Local Government Committee, Renewing Local Government in Limerick, is a good example of what can be done in a way that will give rise to greater local accountability and considerable savings. It will be interesting to see the extent to which vested interests, all of whom acknowledge the serious shortcomings in existing arrangements, will create a climate of opposition to the proposed changes, without regard to the consequences of not implementing them.
Attempts to address the public service crisis through tinkering with existing administrative structures that are no longer fit for purpose cannot work. Strong, accountable and capable local government and local leadership is a essential to providing responsive, cost-effective local services. That is the only way to restore public trust and confidence in those who administer and govern.
John Fitzgerald is chairman of Limerick Regeneration and a former Dublin city manager