Regional Assemblies in Ireland

Regional Authorities in Ireland were established by the Local Government Act 1991 and came into existence in 1994. Under this Act, the Regional Authorities have two main functions: to promote the co-ordination of public service provision and to monitor the delivery of EU Structural Fund assistance in the regions. The Regional Authorities have 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.

Membership of the Regional Authorities

The members of the Regional Authorities are not directly elected, but nominated from among the elected members of the local authorities in the region. Each local authority has 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 varies from 21 members in the Mid-East region to 37 members in the Border region.

Structure of Regional 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.

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 has a Director, assisted by a number of policy and administrative staff. They are NUTS III level.

Financing of the Regional Authorities

The financing of the activities of the Regional Authorities is largely borne by their constituent local authorities.

List of authorities

Dublin Regional Authority (Comprising the areas under the jurisdiction of Dublin City Council, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown¹, Fingal¹ and South Dublin¹)
Mid-East Regional Authority (Comprising the areas under the jurisdiction of County Kildare, County Meath and County Wicklow)
Midlands Regional Authority (Comprising the areas under the jurisdiction of County Laois, County Longford, County Offaly and County Westmeath)
West Regional Authority (Comprising the areas under the jurisdiction of Galway City Council, County Galway, County Mayo and County Roscommon)
Border Regional Authority (Comprising the areas under the jurisdiction of County Cavan, County Donegal, County Leitrim, County Louth, County Monaghan and County Sligo)
Mid-West Regional Authority (Comprising the areas under the jurisdiction of County Clare, Limerick City Council, County Limerick and North Tipperary¹)
South-East Regional Authority (Comprising the areas under the jurisdiction of County Carlow, County Kilkenny, South Tipperary¹, Waterford City Council, County Waterford and County Wexford)
South-West Regional Authority (Comprising the areas under the jurisdiction of Cork City Council, County Cork and County Kerry)

External links

Footnotes

Administrative Counties