The structure of local government
| Type | Number | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| County councils | 26 | Donegal, Kerry, Kildare, Fingal |
| City councils | 3 | Dublin, Cork and Galway city councils |
| City and county councils | 2 | Limerick and Waterford |
On the course: CSPE strand 3 asks you to describe decision-making at local level as well as national level. A councillor is not a TD, and most day-to-day decisions sit with the chief executive.
The Local Government Reform Act 2014 abolished town councils and merged some authorities, so most counties now have a single council divided into municipal districts. Councillors sit both on the full council and on the municipal district for their area.
Above the councils sit three regional assemblies, which prepare regional spatial and economic strategies. Local government has been recognised in the Constitution since 1999 through Article 28A, which also requires local elections at least every five years. Limerick's directly elected mayor, chosen in June 2024, is the current exception to the usual model, where councillors pick the mayor or cathaoirleach from among themselves.
Councillors and the chief executive
The split between elected and executive functions is the single most useful idea in Irish local government.
Councillors set policy
- Adopt the annual budget
- Make or vary the development plan
- Decide other reserved functions
The chief executive runs operations
- Manage staff and services
- Carry out policy and legal duties
- Prepare plans and implement council decisions
| Reserved functions | Executive functions | |
|---|---|---|
| Who | Elected councillors, voting at council meetings | The chief executive, a full-time official |
| Examples | Adopting the annual budget, making the county or city development plan, bye-laws, varying the Local Property Tax rate locally | Staffing, managing housing lists, granting or refusing planning permission, running services |
| Accountability | To voters at local elections | To the council, which can question the chief executive, and to national oversight bodies |
Before 2014 the chief executive was called the county or city manager. The title changed, but the principle did not: anything not reserved to councillors is an executive function. This is why a councillor can shape the development plan that zones land but does not personally decide individual planning applications.See how planning connects to housing.
What councils do and how they are funded
- Housing: social housing provision, housing lists and some grants.
- Planning: development plans, planning decisions and enforcement.
- Roads and transport: local and regional roads, traffic management and parking.
- Environment: waste regulation, litter, and some water quality and climate duties.
- Community services: libraries, parks, fire services, arts and sport.
Councils are funded by commercial rates paid by businesses, the Local Property Tax, fees and charges, and grants from central Government. Because a large share of funding and many policy choices come from national Departments, researchers often describe Irish local government as more centralised than in many other European democracies. Water services, for example, moved from councils to Uisce Éireann.
Local elections and directly elected mayors
Local elections use PR-STV in local electoral areas. They are the most open elections in Ireland: anyone aged 18 or over who is ordinarily resident in the State can register and vote, regardless of citizenship. The most recent local elections took place in June 2024.
Most mayors and cathaoirligh are chosen by councillors from among themselves, usually for a one-year term. Limerick is the exception. After a plebiscite in 2019, Limerick elected Ireland's first directly elected mayor in June 2024, with executive powers alongside the council. Voters in Cork and Waterford rejected similar proposals in 2019, and a Dublin mayor has been debated since.
Questions to test yourself
- What is the difference between a reserved function and an executive function?
- Why can non-citizens vote in local elections but not in general elections?
- Give two arguments for and against directly elected mayors.
- Why do researchers call Irish local government centralised?
- How does a county development plan connect to national planning policy?