Regional Assemblies in Ireland

Regional Assemblies in Ireland took their current form in 2015. They were established under the Local Government Act 1991, as amended by the Local Government Reform Act 2014. They have two main functions under this statute: to promote the co-ordination of public service provision and to monitor the delivery of European Structural and Investment Funds in the regions.

The Regional Assemblies replaced Regional Authorities, which had been established under the Local Government Act 1991 as enacted and came into existence in 1994. From 1999 to 2014, there were two Regional Assemblies, which existed above the Regional Authority structure.

Current regional assemblies

Following an amendment to the Local Government Act 1991 by the Local Government Reform Act 2014, the Regional Authorities were abolished and replaced by two Regional Assemblies in June 2014.[1][2] Following a further adjustment, from 1 January 2015, there were three Regional Assemblies, each divided into Strategic Planning Committees.[3][4] There are 3 regions, each of which is a NUTS 2 statistical region of Ireland. The regions are divided into strategic planning areas (SPAs), which are NUTS 3 statistical regions, roughly corresponding with the former regions under the Regional Authority system.[5][6]

The areas of the Regional Assemblies:[3][7]

Regional Assembly Strategic planning area Local authorities
Northern and Western Regional Assembly Border Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan, Sligo
West Mayo, Roscommon, Galway and Galway City
Southern Regional Assembly Mid-West Clare, Tipperary, Limerick City & County
South-East Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Waterford City & County
South-West Kerry, Cork and Cork City
Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly Dublin Dublin City, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin
Eastern Kildare, Louth, Meath and Wicklow
Midland Laois, Longford, Offaly and Westmeath

Membership

The members of the Regional Assemblies are nominated from the elected members of the local authorities in the region.

Former Regional Authorities and Regional Assemblies
The eight former Regional Authorities of Ireland:
1. Border Regional Authority
2. West Regional Authority
3. Midlands Regional Authority
4. Mid-East Regional Authority
5. Dublin Regional Authority
6. South-East Regional Authority
7. South-West Regional Authority
8. Mid-West Regional Authority

The Regional Authorities were established in 1994.[8] In 1999, this structure was supplemented with the addition of Regional Assemblies.[9]

Regional Assembly Area Regional Authority Area Area
Border, Midland and Western Border County Cavan, County Donegal, County Leitrim, County Louth, County Monaghan and County Sligo
Midlands County Laois, County Longford, County Offaly and County Westmeath
West County Galway, County Mayo, County Roscommon and Galway City
Southern and Eastern Dublin Dublin City, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin
Mid-East County Kildare, County Meath and County Wicklow
Mid-West County Clare, County Limerick, Limerick City and North Tipperary
South-East County Carlow, County Kilkenny, County Waterford, County Wexford, South Tipperary and Waterford City
South-West Cork City, County Cork and County Kerry

The financing of the activities of the Regional Authorities was largely borne by their constituent local authorities. To assist the Regional Authority in undertaking its functions, each has an Operational Committee and an EU Operational Committee. The Operational Committee is chaired by the Cathaoirleach (Chairperson) of the Regional Authority and is composed of senior management from the constituent local authorities and other relevant public sector agencies operating in the region. It helps prepare the work of the Regional Authority and assists and advises it on matters relating to its functions. Also, each Regional Authority has a designated city/county manager (chief executive of a local authority) from one of its local authorities to further enhance the linkages between the local authorities and the Regional Authority.

Each local authority had a certain number of seats on a Regional Authority, based loosely on the population of the local authority area. The size of the Regional Authorities varied from 21 members in the Mid-East region to 37 members in the Border region.

The EU Operational Committee has a similar, but broader, composition and assists the Regional Authority in matters relating to EU assistance and reviewing the implementation of various EU Operational Programmes in a region.

Each Regional Authority had a Director, assisted by a number of policy and administrative staff.

The Regional Authorities had specific responsibility for:

  • Reviewing the Development Plans of local authorities in their region and in adjoining regions;
  • Preparing Regional Planning Guidelines and Regional Economic and Social Strategies;
  • Promoting cooperation, joint actions, arrangements and consultation among local authorities and other public bodies.

On 1 June 2014, the functions of the Regional Authorities were transferred to the two Regional Assemblies as established in 1999, to create a single regional system.[2] From 1 January 2015, these were replaced by three Regional Assemblies, with the former Regional Authority regions being succeeded by strategic planning areas, wholly within the Regional Assemblies.[3]

References
  1. Local Government Reform Act 2014: Regional Assemblies (No. 1 of 2014). Enacted on 27 January 2014. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 19 January 2022.
  2. Local Government Act 1991 (Regional Authorities) (Amendment) Order 2014 (S.I. No. 228 of 2014). Signed on 29 May 2014. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 19 January 2022.
  3. Local Government Act 1991 (Regional Assemblies) (Establishment) Order 2014 (S.I. No. 573 of 2014), "4. (1) Each area described in column (2) of Schedule 1 shall constitute a region within the meaning of and for the purposes of section 43 of the Act of 1991, and shall be called and known by the name specified in column (1) of that Schedule opposite the description of that area.". Signed on 16 December 2014. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 19 January 2022.
  4. "Putting People First" (PDF). Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. October 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
  5. "Revision to the Irish NUTS2 and NUTS3 regions". cso.ie.
  6. Regulation (EU) No 2016/2066 of 21 November 2016 amending the annexes to Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS)
  7. "Regional assemblies". Citizens' Information. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
  8. Local Government Act 1991 (Regional Authorities) (Establishment) Order 1993 (S.I. No. 394 of 1993). Signed on 20 December 1993. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 25 February 2022.
  9. Local Government Act 1991 (Regional Authorities) (Establishment) Order 1999 (S.I. No. 226 of 1999). Signed on 19 July 1999. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 25 February 2022.
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