PART 8

Local Authority Boundary Alteration

55. —In this Part—

“application” shall be read in accordance with section 57 ;

“proposer”, “proposal”, “respondent”, “statement of response” and “amended proposal” shall be read in accordance with section 56 .

56. —(1) (a) A county council or city council may, by resolution, adopt a proposal that the boundary of the county or city be altered in accordance with this Part.

(b) A town council may, by resolution, adopt a proposal that the boundary of the town be altered in accordance with this Part.

(c) A county council may, by resolution, adopt a proposal that the boundary of any town situated in such county be altered in accordance with this Part.

(d) A county council and a town council may jointly adopt a proposal that the boundary of a county be altered in accordance with this Part so as to incorporate an area in an adjoining county, with provision for the simultaneous alteration of the boundary of such town to coincide with the county boundary so altered.

(e) A proposal shall specify the alteration to which it relates by reference to a map.

(2) (a) A local authority which makes a proposal under subsection (1) and a proposal so made are referred to in this Part, respectively, as a “proposer” and a “proposal”.

(b) For the purposes of subsection (1)(d) the proposer shall be a county council.

(3) A proposer shall—

(a) furnish a copy of the proposal to each local authority whose boundary is affected by the proposal and such other local authorities as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Minister and each authority so affected by a proposal is referred to in this Part as a “respondent”,

(b) publish a notice of the proposal in the form so prescribed giving details of the proposal and inviting submissions with regard to it from any person concerned within such period as is specified in the notice, and

(c) otherwise inform such persons of the proposal as may be so prescribed.

(4) (a) Within 6 months from the receipt by each respondent of a copy of the proposal or such longer period as may be agreed upon by the proposer and the respondent, each respondent shall consider the proposal and make a statement of its response to the proposal (in this Part referred to as a “statement of response”), and furnish a copy of it to the proposer.

(b) The making of a statement of response is a reserved function.

(5) Following consideration by a proposer of any submission that it receives within the period referred to in subsection (3)(b) and of any statement of response furnished to it in accordance with subsection (4)(a), the proposer may by resolution amend the proposal in such manner as it thinks fit and a proposal so amended is referred to in this Part as an “amended proposal”.

57. —(1) Upon the expiration, in relation to a proposal, of the periods referred to in subsections (3)(b) and (4)(a) of section 56 , a proposer may make application (in this Part referred to as an “application”) to the Local Government Commission for the making of a report in relation to the boundary to which the proposal or the amended proposal, as the case may be, relates.

(2) An application shall be accompanied by the proposal, any submissions received by the proposer, the statement of response from each respondent and any amended proposal.

(3) A decision to make an application under subsection (1) is a reserved function.

58. —(1) A proposal, a statement of response and any amended proposal shall set out—

(a) the financial and other implications of the proposal or of the amended proposal, as the case may be, and

(b) the adjustments in relation to financial, administrative or other matters to be made between the proposer and each respondent concerned as a consequence of the alteration of the boundary concerned.

(2) (a) A proposer shall furnish a copy of the application made by it to each respondent and to such other persons as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Minister.

(b) A proposal, a statement of response, an amended proposal and an application shall comply with such requirements as may be so prescribed.

(c) The Minister may prescribe by regulations any matter of procedure or any other requirement which he or she considers necessary for the satisfactory operation of this section or sections 56 and 57.

59. —(1) The Minister may request the Local Government Commission to prepare a report in relation to the boundary of any local authority and the Commission shall comply with such request.

(2) A copy of any such request shall be sent by the Minister to the local authorities concerned.

60. —(1) Where an application is made by a proposer to the Local Government Commission under section 57 , then following consideration by it of the application, it shall either—

(a) prepare a report in accordance with subsection (5), or

(b) notify the proposer and the respondent in writing that for stated reasons set out in the notification it considers it inappropriate to deal with the application.

(2) Where an application referred to in subsection (1) has the agreement of each respondent, the Commission shall carry out its functions under that subsection as a matter of priority and shall accordingly ensure that the application is dealt with as expeditiously as possible.

(3) A notification under subsection (1)(b) may refer to such matters as the Commission considers relevant to the particular case.

(4) Where a request is made by the Minister to the Local Government Commission under section 59 , the Commission shall prepare a report in accordance with subsection (5).

(5) Subject to Part 11, the Local Government Commission shall—

(a) review the boundary of the local authority concerned,

(b) make such recommendations with respect to the boundary, or otherwise under subsection (7), that it considers to be necessary in the interests of effective and convenient local government, and

(c) prepare and furnish to the Minister a report in writing of that review and its recommendations, including any recommendations under section 90 (3)(c) in relation to financial and other ancillary or related matters.

(6) A report and recommendations by the Local Government Commission on an application under section 57 may provide for the alteration of a boundary (whether by enlargement or reduction) otherwise than in accordance with the terms of the proposal or amended proposal, as the case may be, or that no alteration be made.

(7) (a) Where the Local Government Commission does not recommend a boundary alteration, it may make such other recommendations affecting the local authorities concerned as are in its opinion—

(i) necessary in the interests of effective and convenient local government, and

(ii) are designed to secure proper organisational arrangements, co-operation, co-ordination and delivery of local government services.

(b) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (a), arrangements may relate to—

(i) the delivery of specified services in specified areas by a specified local authority,

(ii) the establishment of a joint committee,

(iii) joint organisational arrangements affecting the area, or

(iv) any matter or thing for which provision may be made in a supplementary order under section 62 .

61. —(1) Following consideration of a report by the Local Government Commission with respect to the boundary of a local authority the Minister may by order alter the boundary of the relevant county, city or town.

(2) An order under subsection (1) may provide for the alteration of the boundary (whether by enlargement or reduction) otherwise than in accordance with the recommendations in the report but, where that alteration differs in a material respect from that recommended, the order shall set out the reasons for such variation.

(3) Where it is proposed to make an order under this section in relation to the boundary of a county or city—

(a) a draft of the order shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas, and

(b) the order shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each House.

(4) Where a report of the Local Government Commission makes recommendations under section 60 (7), the Minister may by direction in writing require the local authorities the subject of the report to take such steps to implement those recommendations—

(a) in a manner and within such period, and

(b) subject to such variation,

as may be specified in the direction.

(5) Each local authority shall comply with a direction to it under subsection (4).

62. —(1) In this section and in Schedule 11—

“authority concerned” means a local authority whose boundary is affected by a primary order;

“primary order” means an order under section 61 (1);

“relevant area” means the portion of the administrative area of one local authority, or any part of that portion, which by virtue of a primary order becomes part of the administrative area of another local authority;

“supplementary order” means an order made under subsection (2).

(2) (a) The Minister or any other Minister of the Government, with the consent of the Minister, may by order make such provision as he or she considers necessary or expedient in relation to any matter arising from, in consequence of, or otherwise related to, the boundary alteration effected by a primary order.

(b) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (a), a supplementary order may make provision for all or any of the matters set out in Schedule 11.

(3) A supplementary order made by a Minister of the Government, other than the Minister, may only make provision with respect to matters in relation to which functions stand conferred on that Minister of the Government.

(4) A supplementary order made by the Minister may be made as one with a primary order.

(5) If a supplementary order so provides, a supplementary order may have retrospective effect with effect from the date of coming into force of the appropriate primary order.

(6) Where a boundary alteration is effected under this Part in respect of a town whose boundary was altered by regulations under section 17 of the Local Government Act, 1994 , any alterations made under that section shall cease to have effect in respect of the town or of any county boundary concerned.

(7) Where a boundary alteration is effected by a primary order, any reference in any enactment (including any reference read in accordance with section 3 and Schedule 2) to a county, city or town, whether to such areas generally or to any particular such area, shall, subject to any provision to the contrary in a supplementary order and unless the context otherwise requires, be read as a reference to the area of such county, city or town as so altered.