THE GOVERNMENT HAS outlined wide-ranging reforms to the structures of local government with town councils abolished and the number of councillors set to be reduced considerably.
The number of councils operating in Ireland is to be cut dramatically from 114 to 31, while the number of councillors is being reduced from 1,627 to 950 in advance of the 2014 local elections, with around €420 million in estimated savings to be made over the next four years.
Environment Minister Phil Hogan has said the reforms are aimed at the “rebalancing of power to the democratically elected local councillor and away from the management system”, but opposition parties say the move will centralise government power and damage local democracy.
You can read more about the changes being implemented here but today we want to know, do you agree with the local government reforms?
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