Borderwise Booklets
Issue 1
10TH January 2007
Going South – Government and Public
Administration
©
NIACAB (Northern Ireland Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux)
If you live in
Northern Ireland (NI) and you want to move to the Republic of Ireland (ROI) to
live this factsheet provides a general overview of how government and public
administration operate in the South. It includes a brief description of local
government and of the bodies which are charged with ensuring that government
operates openly and fairly and with respect for human rights.
S9 Going South – Government and Public Administration
2. Government in the South
The Constitution
of Ireland sets out the form of government and outlines the fundamental rights
of citizens. There are three main organs of government –
- The Executive
The Executive generally referred to as the Government
which comprises the Taoiseach and Ministers.
- The Legislature
The Legislature is the Houses of the Oireachtas - the
Dáil and Seanad (Senate) which together constitute the Houses of the Oireachtas.
- The Judiciary.
The
Judiciary (the judges in the Courts) interprets and applies the law and is
independent
of the other two branches of government.
The Government is
chosen by and is collectively responsible to the Dáil. The Taoiseach, the
Tánaiste and the Minister for Finance must be Members of the Dáil. It is
possible to have 2 Ministers who are members of the Seanad but this rarely
happens. At present, there are 17 Ministers of State. Ministers of State are
responsible to senior Ministers and, in some cases, have specific delegated
responsibilities.
The Government is responsible to the Dáil. It is not
responsible to the Seanad. However, Ministers have a right to attend the
Seanad and it is normal practice for the relevant Minister or Minister of State
to be present when the House is dealing with their areas of responsibility.
The following are the Government Departments:
Department of
Agriculture and Food www.agriculture.gov.ie
Department of
Arts, Sport and Tourism www.arts-sport-tourism.gov.ie/
Department of
Communications, Marine and Natural Resources www.dcmnr.gov.ie
Department of
Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs www.pobail.ie
Department of
Defence www.defence.gov.ie
Department of
Education and Science www.education.gov.ie
Department of
Enterprise, Trade and Employment www.entemp.ie
Department of
Environment, Heritage and Local Government www.environ.ie
Department of
Finance www.finance.gov.ie
Department of
Foreign Affairs www.iveagh.gov.ie
Department of Health
and Children www.dohc.ie
Department of
Justice, Equality and Law Reform www.justice.ie
Department of
Social and Family Affairs www.welfare.ie
Department of the
Taoiseach www.taoiseach.gov.ie
Department of
Transport www.transport.ie
2.1 Local Government
There are 114
directly elected local authorities in the country:
County
councils: 29 (each county
but 2 in Tipperary - Tipperary North Riding and Tipperary South Riding; 3 in Dublin - Fingal, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown and South County Dublin)
City councils: 5 (Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Galway). They have the same status and powers as county councils.
Borough councils: 5 (Kilkenny, Clonmel, Drogheda, Sligo, Wexford) Even
though they are usually described in the same way as the county borough
corporations (e.g. Sligo Corporation etc), they have more limited powers and
functions.
Town Councils: 75
The borough and
town councils are each part of the relevant county. These are located in county
council areas and those county councils have responsibility for certain
services within these towns.
Contact details
for all local authorities are available at:
www.environ.ie
You are entitled
to vote in elections in the ROI if you meet the following conditions and if
your name is on the electoral register:
- Irish citizens can
vote in every election and referendum
- British citizens
may vote at Dáil, European and local elections
- Other EU citizens
may vote at European and local elections
- Non-EU citizens
can vote at local elections only
To be eligible to be included on the
Register of Electors, you must:
- be at least 18
years old on the day the Register comes into force (15 February)
- have been
ordinarily resident in the State on 1 September in the year preceding the
coming into force of the Register
3. Local Authority Services
Generally, local
authorities provide services in the following categories:
Housing and
Building – this covers
assessment of housing needs, building houses or financing the building of
social housing, management and maintenance of local authority housing, certain
grants for house improvements, enforcing standards for private rented housing,
settlement of travellers.
Road Transport
and Safety: the
maintenance of non-national roads, public lighting, traffic management,
registration and collection of motor tax, driver licensing. (The
Responsibility for national roads rests with the National Roads Authority.)
Water Supply
and Sewerage: operation
and maintenance of public water supply and sewerage scheme, assisting private
water schemes and providing public toilets
Development
Incentives and Controls:
Preparation of County and City development plans, planning controls, community
development activity
Environmental
Protection: operation and
maintenance of land-fill sites, collection and disposal of waste, operation and
maintenance of graveyards, fire fighting and prevention, pollution controls,
street cleaning, litter prevention. (The Environmental Protection Agency is
the main agency responsible for enforcing environmental legislation.)
Recreation and
Amenities: operation and
maintenance of amenities such as swimming pools, libraries, parks, museums,
galleries, community centres
Education: contributions to Vocational education
Committees, animal disease control, higher education grants
Miscellaneous
Services: including
running elections, coroners, dog and horse control, certain food safety
inspections.
3.1 Regional Authorities and
Regional Assemblies
There are 8
regional authorities and 2 regional assemblies. The two Regional Assemblies
provide a structure for the two regions which have been identified for the
purposes of EU Structural Funds.
Dublin Regional Authority - Dublin City and County
South East
Regional Authority - Kilkenny, Carlow, Wexford, Waterford, Tipperary South
Riding
South West
Regional Authority - Cork City and County, Kerry
Mid West Regional
Authority - Clare, Limerick, Tipperary North Riding
Mid-East Regional
Authority - Kildare, Meath, Wicklow
These 5
constitute the South & East Region Assembly. The headquarters of the
Regional Assembly is Waterford.
West Regional
Authority - Galway City and County, Mayo, Roscommon
Border Regional
Authority - Donegal, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan, Louth, Sligo
Midlands Regional Authority - Offaly. Longford,
Westmeath, Laois
These 3
constitute the Border, Midlands and West Region (BMW). The headquarters is in
Ballaghaderren.
3.2 Regional
Authorities
The members of
the regional authorities are appointed by the local authorities in their areas
from among their membership. They do not provide any services directly. They
are financed by the constituent local authorities.
Their main
functions are:
·
to promote the
co-ordination of public services at regional level
·
to promote
co-operation, joint action and cohesion between local authorities, public
authorities and others
·
to review regional
development needs and the provision of public services in the regions.
They also have a
function in relation to the review of the use of the EU Structural Funds. For
this purpose they are joined by representatives of the social partners and
relevant government departments.
3.3 Regional
Assemblies
The two regional
assemblies are composed of representatives of the regional authorities
concerned.
They promote
co-ordination of the provision of public services in their areas, manage the
regional operational programmes in the Community Support Framework (CSF) and
monitoring the general impact of all EU programmes of assistance under the CSF.
3.4 County Enterprise Boards
There are 35
County Enterprise Boards which are concerned with small local development. They
3.5 City/County
Development Boards (CDBs)
There are CDBs in
each of the city and county councils. They draw up and oversee the
implementation of a County/City Strategy for economic, social and cultural
development.
www.cdb.ie
4. Planning
The local
authorities have primary responsibility for planning and for implementation of
the planning laws. An Bord Pleanala is the statutory body for dealing with
appeals in relation to planning permissions.
An Bord Pleanála
64 Marlborough Street, Dublin 1.
Tel: (01) 858 8100 LoCall: 1890 275 175
www.pleanala.ie
The Environmental
Protection Agency is the statutory agency charged with protecting the
environment and enforcing environmental legislation
Environmental Protection Agency
PO Box 3000, Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford
Tel: (053) 60600
Website: www.epa.ie
5. The Human Rights Commission
The Human Rights
Commission aims to ensure that the human rights of all people in Ireland are fully realised and protected, in law, in policy and in practice. Its functions
include:
Ø
keeping under review
the adequacy and effectiveness of law and practice in relating to the
protection of human rights;
Ø
Conducting enquiries –
it may do this at the request of an individual.
Ø
taking legal
proceedings to vindicate human rights or providing legal assistance to people
to do this
The Human Rights Commission
4th Floor, Jervis
House, Jervis Street, Dublin 1
Tel: (01) 858 9601
www.ihrc.ie
6. Ombudsman
The Ombudsman is
a statutory office whose main function is to investigate complaints from
members of the public who feel that they have been unfairly treated by certain
public services. These services are government departments and offices, local
authorities, the Health Service Executive and An Post.
Any individual
may complain directly to the Ombudsman. Generally speaking, you must have
exhausted the existing complaints machinery.
The Ombudsman may
not investigate
Ø
the actions of private
companies or individuals,
Ø
complaints relating to
recruitment, pay and conditions of employment,
Ø
court decisions,
Ø
the actions of the
Gardai or actions taken in the running of the prisons,
Ø
matters which are
already the subject of court proceedings or where the person has a specific
right, in law, to appeal to the courts,
Ø
matters where there is
a right of appeal to an independent tribunal or appeal body such as the Income
Tax Appeals Commissioners, the Employment Appeals Tribunal etc.,
Ø
the 'reserved
functions' of local authorities - that means those functions which are
exercised exclusively by the elected members of local authorities,
Ø
actions taken solely
in the exercise of clinical judgement by doctors, actions of semi-state bodies
other than An Post,
Ø
the Houses of the
Oireachtas
The Ombudsman's
'Guide to Standards of Best Practice for Public Servants in their dealings with
the public' and the 'Guide to Internal Complaints Systems' set out the
standards which should apply in the provision of public services.
Office of the Ombudsman
18 Lower Leeson Street,
Dublin 2.
Tel: +353 1 639 5600 Fax: (01) 661 0570
Lo-call: 1890 22 30 30 (for outside (01) area)
www.ombudsman.ie
7. Ombudsman for Children
The Ombudsman for
Children is a statutory office. The main functions of the Office are:
·
to promote the rights
and welfare of children and
·
to investigate
complaints made by children or on behalf of children against public bodies,
schools and public hospitals
The bodies which
may be investigated include government departments, health boards, local
authorities, schools, public hospitals and the prison service. Areas such as
the courts, the Gardai, the asylum process, the Adoption Board and labour
relations agencies are not subject to the Ombudsman’s investigation.
In general,
children means everyone under the age of 18 but does not include young people
under 18 who are members of the Defence Forces.
Ombudsman for Children
Millennium House
52-56 Great Strand Street
Dublin 1.
Tel: (01) 865
6800
LoCall 1890 654
654
www.oco.ie
8. Equality
It is illegal to
discriminate in employment and the provision of services on a number of grounds
- gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, family status,
religion, race and membership of the Traveller community. The equality
legislation is implemented by the Equality Authority, the Equality Tribunal and
the Courts ( see leaflet S8)
The Equality Authority
2 Clonmel Street, Harcourt Street, Dublin 2
Tel: (01) 417 3333.
www.equality.ie
The Equality Tribunal
3 Clonmel Street, Harcourt Street, Dublin 2
Tel: (01) 417 4100
www.odei.ie
9. Official Languages Commissioner
The Official Languages Commissioner is a statutory office whose main
function is to monitor and ensure compliance by public bodies with the
provisions of the Official Languages Act 2003. The Act aims to promote the use
of Irish for official purposes.
An Coimisinéir Teanga
An Spidéal
Co na Gaillimhe
Tel: (091) 504 006
LoCall: 1890 504 006
www.coimisineir.ie
10. Freedom of Information (FOI)
The freedom of
information legislation obliges public bodies to make information about themselves
publicly available and gives individuals the right to access various
information. Virtually all public authorities are covered by the legislation.
The Information Commissioner investigates complaints about non-compliance with
the FOI legislation and generally promotes a freedom of information culture in
the public service.
Office of the Information
Commissioner
18 Lower Leeson
St.,
Dublin 2
Tel: (01) 639
5689
www.oic.gov.ie