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Environment Minister announces details of Local Government overhaul

The Minister for the Environment has announced the abolition of 80 town Councils including those in Ennis, Shannon, Kilkee and Kilrush in local government reform plans which are aimed at saving the taxpayer 420 million in total.

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The proposals – entitled " Putting People First"  will see Clare’s Town Councils replaced by new Municipal Districts, which will cover the entire county, and Councillors will be elected simultaneously to the Municipal Districts and the County Council.

The number of County Councillors will also be slashed by 42 per cent – from over sixteen-hundred to nine-hundred-and-fifty while the power of councillors to overturn a planning decision is to be removed.

The City and County Councils in Waterford and Limerick, as well as the two Tipperary Councils will be merged into single authorities for the 2014 local elections while Galway and Cork will maintain their city and county council structures and there will be no changes to the current set up in Dublin.

There will be another 500 redundancies across the local authority system.
 

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