History with Monica McGill: Councillors’ powers are limited and still remain so

AMONGST other matters requiring our votes, there’s a Local Election to our County Council (SDCC) on June 7. Voters are the backbone of our democracy and our forebears – some from Clondalkin – fought so we could vote without fear.

Eligible people who are available to vote should claim their vote to negate impersonation.  Those who don’t bother to vote deserve little sympathy if they complain afterwards.

Eligible adults (i.e. aged 18 or over) should ensure they are on the Voters’ Register at HERE and HERE.

Elected Representatives (aka County Councillors or Councillors)

Voters elect candidates every five years.  A Councillor’s post is considered part-time with a present remuneration of €28,000 per annum before taxes, plus allowable expenses.

While in office, Councillors have a duty to bring people’s reasonable concerns and requests to SDCC Council meetings for decisions and subsequent (hopefully swift and satisfactory) action.

Councillors can belong to a political Party and reflect that Party’s political stance.  Political Parties support their candidates with resources at election and other times.

Some Councillors decide to be Independent and don’t belong to any political Party.  Independent Councillors don’t receive Party political support.

Council Officials

Officials are career civil servants or public servants.  They are not elected.  Officials’ posts are secure unless dismissed.  The County Council pays its Officials according to the seniority of their posts.

The Officials’ role includes  supporting the decisions and aspirations of the current County Development Plan.

The current Plan lasts until 2028.  It reflects National Government, Council Officials’ and Councillors’ decisions.

A new County Development Plan is adopted every 6 years after much discussion during a limited number of Development Plan Council meetings.

Electing Candidates to become County Councillors

Candidates canvass (request) voters to elect or re-elect them.

Canvassing is accomplished by publicly-displayed election posters, and/or leaflets, and/or via social and other media.

Previous Councillors make voters aware that they are “going up” again.

Clondalkin’s and Newcastle’s Tidy Towns Groups have a voluntary poster ban in place in various locations.

Wise previous Councillors don’t delay canvassing until just before a local election.  Instead, during their time in office they promptly convey Council decisions to people as they arise (no matter how unsatisfactory the outcome) thereby helping to establish their effectiveness and meriting re-election.

Voting takes place on June 7 from 7am – 10pm

Some voters mistakenly think Councillors have extensive powers to decide on matters.  However, due to a national scandal some years ago, Councillors’ powers were limited and remain so.

Conveying people’s concerns to SDCC Councillors have three ways of bringing people’s reasonable concerns and requests to Officials for consideration and written responses.

1. General Council meetings The first formal way is via General Council meetings, where (hopefully) all 40 Councillors and the relevant Officials meet monthly to discuss and decide on larger matters. Each Councillor can submit before a deadline 1 Motion and 5 questions (proposals or queries) to SDCC General Meetings.

Ideally with the proposing Councillor’s agreement, Officials decide which Council Department will respond to each Motion.

The relevant Official in charge of answering each Motion should attend Council meetings and will have prepared a written response (report) beforehand.

The absence of the relevant Official at Council meetings can cause delay, an incomplete or unsatisfactory outcome.

The Councillor proposing the Motion can accept or reject the Official’s report.  If the report is accepted, the meeting moves on to the next Motion.

If the report is rejected, discussion between Councillors and Officials hopefully results in an acceptable outcome.

For a Motion to be considered whatsoever at a General Meeting, the Councillor who proposed it must be present at the time the Motion is raised.

If not, the Motion “falls”.  It’s not discussed.  The Official’s report is included in the minutes of the meeting but it’s noted that the Motion fell.

It cannot be brought to another General Meeting for six months.  To serve the voters properly, Councillors should attend all possible meetings, especially those dealing with the Motions they proposed.

In the past, scurrilous Councillors stated that they proposed a Motion to a Council meeting (true), but omitted that their absence at the right time during the meeting meant their Motion fell.

A costly waste of time and effort – and people’s votes.

Due to Councillors’ requests, nowadays anyone can observe General Council and Local Area Meetings online and in session, but observers can’t contribute while meetings are in session.

Live access is through SDCC’s website or by emailing SDCC to alert the viewer beforehand.

Written minutes of these meetings are also available on SDCC’s website.

2. Local Area Meetings

The second formal way is through Local Area Meetings, where relevant Councillors meet with Officials to discuss and decide on local matters.  Local Area Meetings follow the same format and requirements as General Council Meetings.  They also take place once a month, but in between General Council Meetings.  Councillors get 5 motions for discussion and 5 questions for noting at each Area Meeting.

Information about Council meetings is available via HERE.

Representations

The third way is less formal and arrives with SDCC as Representations from Councillors using the Council’s Membernet system.

Councillors can bring any number of Representations to SDCC for their attention and official answer outside of formal Council Meetings.

Some other formal meetings between Councillors and Officials also take place, but are not open to the public.

Council Departments

SDCC has various Departments, each dealing with its allotted responsibilities.

his “silo” arrangement mostly works, but is not always successful from voters’ viewpoint.

Sometimes Officials in one Department may perceive a Motion’s topic as being outside their duties.

In other cases, a Motion’s topic may involve Officials from two or more Departments who may regard it as part of their responsibilities.

The possible “tennis match” resulting from both scenarios can cause delays, confusion or frustration to voters and Councillors alike.

Outsourcing

Many Council workers’ jobs have been “outsourced” (e.g. regarding house-building, bin collection etc).  Outsourcing involves SDCC hiring companies as contractors rather than directly employing individual workers.  Some perceive this as a false economy, reducing the important legacy of knowledge within SDCC itself.

Citizens’ Charter

SDCC seeks to provide “a standard of excellence in public service which our citizens and customers deserve.”  ( SDCC Citizens’ Charter).

Our democracy becomes stronger with each eligible individual voting at the proper polling station on 7th June from 7am to 10pm.  Bring usually-accepted photo ID with you in case it’s needed – such as your passport, driver’s licence, etc.